


L'amante dei serpenti

by Lady_une



Category: BIGBANG - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M, bigbang, mafia a/u
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-02-06 00:59:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 51,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12806130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_une/pseuds/Lady_une
Summary: The daughter of one of the largest mafias out of the US sent over to South Korea to monitor her father's operations there. You were sure this was going to be boring and wished you didn't have to leave your home and friends, little did you know this new adventure would be anything but boring.





	1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1 **

 

**Sofia **

_Thank god it's not too hot out._

 

I thought to myself as I walked down the street with my friends. It was my second day here and I was happy my father at least allowed my friends to come help get me settled in. I was still pretty upset with my father for making me come to this country and leave behind everything I worked so hard for. I was my father's only child or so he would like to say, I knew he had a couple of bastards running around but he was smart enough to keep them a secret and out of my mother's sight. I had finished medical school 3 years ago and was doing house calls to my father's trusted friends and assisted the injured men whenever something would go squirrely on an operation. When I wasn't closing stab wounds or fishing out bullets from the men in my dad's service I was sitting right next to my father learning the business. I was set to inherit my father's business when he was ready to step down and this whole time I was thinking he would give me my own little piece to run. It turned out I would get my own little share to manage but it just happened to be far away from my family. When I was told of this decision I fought my father tooth and nail to stay home and run something from there. He told me it would be a good learning experience for me and would teach me how to not depend on him as he wouldn't always be here for me. I still hated the idea but I eventually agreed because he had a point. I often depended on him too much and would second guess myself, I needed to learn to be on my own two feet. I guess I would finally put all those years of learning Korean to good use.

 

"Sofia, look at this dress?"

 

My friend pulled on my arm to go look at a dress that was hanging from a rack right outside of a store. I let her pull me to the rack where she lifted the dress up and put it up to my body to look at.

 

"You have to get this, it's stunning on you!"

 

I took the dress from her and looked it over, it wasn't anything flashy and would be nice for a warm day spent at the beach. I smiled and nodded to my friend just as a sales lady walked out asking if we needed anything. I asked her how much for the dress and when she told me the price I took my backpack off, setting it on the ground and bending down to fish out my wallet. Just as I had grabbed my wallet and was set to zip the backpack up someone came by and snatched it from my hand. The man took off running and I took chase not wanting him to get away with my identification. My father had yet to inform his Korean partners that he was sending someone to oversee the new partnership. He wanted me to get use to the country and keep a watch on the Kwons to see how they worked.

I was running after the man as fast as I possibly could go and often had to dodge other people coming out of the stores. The man looked back and saw me running and tried to run faster running right towards an intersection. He was looking back at me as he was approaching a street that had a no walk symbol flashing. A honking car and squealing tires caught his attention too late as his body came into contact with the vehicle and sent him tumbling over the hood of the vehicle and into the windshield of the car. His body eventually rolled off the hood of the car and landed on the ground with a loud thump. The driver of the vehicle jumped out and ran to him just as I was running up to the man. A crowd was starting to form around the vehicle and the man and I bent down to check to see if he was breathing, which thankfully he was. I looked up and shouted for someone to call an ambulance before turning my attention back to the man. He was conscious and moving his body which was a good sign.

 

I grabbed my wallet and turned toward the man, "Sir, please stay still and ambulance is on its way."

The man coughed up and the edge of his lips were instantly stained red, "fucking bitch shouldn't have followed me."

 

I pushed him back to lay flat on his back while I lifted his shirt to see red and purple color forming near his ribcage.

 

"Well if you hadn't tried to take my wallet I wouldn't have needed to chase you. Now keep your ass still, you have some internal bleeding."

 

The police came along with an ambulance to take the man away and to get my statement. After I gave the police all the information they needed I went back to the store to collect my friends. I didn't like this one bit as now my name will be floating around the police department database. It wouldn't be a big deal but as I was a foreign woman here to open my own medical practice, I was sure this would raise many red flags. My friends and I went back to the hotel to relax prior to going to get dinner, which gave me a chance to phone my father him and inform him of the current situation.

 

"Sofia what's wrong? Why are you calling at this hour?"

"I apologize for calling you so late father but we might have a problem."

 

I could hear my father get up from his bed and my mother ask if everything was ok before he shushed her prior to a door closing, he was probably in his office.

 

"What is the problem."

"Someone tried to steal my wallet and while I was chasing him down to retrieve it he was hit by a vehicle. The police came and took my information before they allowed me to leave, they have my name in their system now. I wanted to call you and make sure you knew what was going on. I expect the Kwons will know of my presence here in Korea shortly."

"Where are you right now? I have some of the men from here on their way to Korea right now. I wish you had waited until they were ready to leave as well."

"Do not worry father I have everything under control. We have a hotel room booked under my name where we are seen going about our business. We leave later in the night via an employee exit where I have a car stashed to take me to my condo. In the event that a move is made against me they will hit the hotel room where we won't be, I have a man who is staying here and there is video surveillance of the room where I can monitor it from my phone. If they hit the room I will know and my friends will be on the first plane out of this country before anything can happen. I will be safe, I won't allow them to get over on us."

"Are you carrying?"

"Yes, I have my breast strap with a small firearm that I can equip. I was just coming back to change clothes and put it on before we went to dinner."

"Make sure you check in with Philip when you turn in for the night. I want you to check in three times a day with him, once in the morning, afternoon, and in the evening. I need you to keep him updated with anything else that happens. Make sure you stay safe Sofia, if anything happens to you I doubt I will make it out alive as I am sure your mother will have my head for sending you there."

I laughed into the phone because my father was right, my mother might be small woman who looks sweet and innocent but she was actually viscous woman, she would have no problem with taking my father's life if anything were to happen to me. "Don't worry father I will be fine. Give my love to mother please."

 

I disconnected the call before I went back to grab my spare outfit and breast strap. Thankfully the rest of the night was not so eventful and we were able to make it back to my condo and turn in for the night.

The next day we spent the majority of the morning doing some more sightseeing with taking a tour of the palace and trying on the hanboks. When we were just sitting down to eat lunch my phone rang, I looked at the phone and didn't recognize number but did notice it was a Korean number.

 

"Hello?"

"Miss Rossi?"

"Yes, this is Miss Rossi."

"Good afternoon Miss Rossi this is Mr. Kwon's secretary and I was calling to see if you would be free to join Mr. Kwon for dinner tonight."

I knew it was only a matter of time before they found out but I wasn't expecting it to be this quickly. "I don't think I can as I have prior engagements." I lied wanting to see how they would take my refusal.

"My apologies Miss Rossi, this isn't something you can refuse. Mr. Kwon will send a car to pick you up at 5pm, please be ready in the hotel lobby."

"Alright then."

 

The secretary hung up and I rolled my eyes before I dialed the man who I had at my hotel.

 

"Mr. Soo I need you to go to my condo and grab my black suit along with my black bag with the handcuff keychain on it."

 

I called Philip to inform him of the current situation and was advised that the men whom my father had sent were set to land in a couple of hours and would be waiting at my condo for me. It made me feel a little more comfortable to know I would have trusted men here and that I wouldn't be fully alone. I put my phone back in my purse and went back to my lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent shopping and picking up things I wanted to send back to my mother. I picked her up some brooches and handbags and also purchased some shoes for my father along with some pocket watches. When we arrived back the hotel I informed the girls of what was going to happen.

 

"Ladies I feel terrible that our trip might be cut short."

"It's ok Sofia we knew this was always a possibility."

 

The rest of the girls nodded their head in agreement. I was so lucky to have such close friends who weren't afraid of what my family was. I stayed back at the hotel to get ready while I sent the girls back to the condo with our purchases. Mr. Soo had my black suit laid out on my bed next to my black bag. I made sure to put my breast strap on which was a strap that went on before my bra to conceal my small gun. Unless you were patted down firmly you would not be able to notice that I was carrying a gun as the gun was hidden on the inside of the bra. It was not comfortable at all but I had gotten use to the awkward rubbing of the material and the feel of a gun being pushed into my breast. I opened my black bag to make sure I had everything in it, I had some extra cash, an extra gun, a small first aid kit, a burner phone, and other small girl things you would find in a purse. I also had a small knife with a snake head on the hilt which I slid inside my boot. Most people when they first meet me would assume I was just a normal stupid girl and the fact that I carried a gun in my purse would hopefully feed into that assumption. I grabbed my bag and jacket before walking out of my room and heading to the lobby to find a driver holding a sign with my name on it.

The car ride to where I was having dinner wasn't too long and we pulled up to a gated house. The driver opened the door of the car and walked me up to the gate where I was met by a woman who escorted me through the gate and up to a house that I assumed belong to the Kwons. When we entered the house she took me to a room where there was a man dressed in all black. He asked me to hand over my bag and any weapons I might have. I smiled at him and handed him my bag to which he searched and found my gun which I just shrugged as he put it in a box.

 

"Miss Rossi if you could please lift your arms so I can pat you down."

 

I did as I was told I lifted my arms for him. The man was tall and his suit fit him like a glove showing off his rather large arms and legs. He was cute and I couldn't help myself when he approached me and was ready to start his pat down I spun around on him surprising him when I put my hands on his chest.

 

"Why don't we ditch this boring dinner and you can show me all that Korea has to offer a girl."

 

I made sure to trail my nails down his chest towards his pants and watched his pupils dilate and him swallow harshly. I needed to distract him as much as possible so that he wouldn't get a chance to frisk my upper body.

 

"Please Miss Rossi turn back around."

 

I pouted but turned back around and lifted my arms for him. He started off my legs and patted them down and when he was about to check my boots I made sure to push my ass back into his face as he had to bend down to check them.

 

"Oops."

 

I heard him cough before he just briefly felt my boots before he went back up my legs and got close to my crotch. I moaned out loud trying to sound as sexy as possible while I was starting to panic on the inside.

 

"If you keep touching a girl like that you better be able to handle her needs."

 

I heard him take in a sharp breath before his hands went to check the side pockets of my pants and the back pockets. When he didn't find anything there his hands started move up first checking the pockets of my jacket before they went to my torso slowly making their way to my breast. Just as I felt his hands put pressure on my side I turned around again and threw my hands around the guys neck and leaned into him to whisper in his ear.

 

"Are you sure you don't want to sneak off some place? I have an empty hotel room just needing to be broken in. Let's just run off before someone notices, I am sure everything will be fine." I made sure to bite down on his ear a bit which earned me a moan and I knew I had him right where I needed him.

"Park what is taking you so long?"

 

I pulled back from the man who I figured was Park and looked at a man in a designer suit and small Mohawk standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

 

"Youngbae hyung I am sorry.."

"I don't want to hear it, did you pat her down?" park pulled away and stood next to me looking at the man in the door.

 

I linked my arm with him and smiled at him when he looked down at me as he gulped again before nodding his head.

 

"And is she cleared?" Youngbae asked in an irritated tone obviously annoyed by the lower ranking man's inability to do what he was tasked to in a timely manner.

"Yes, sir."

"Good, Miss Rossi if you would please follow me."

 

I let go of Park and followed him out of the room and too a larger room that had a long table set up in it with food already. Youngbae pulled out my chair and I sat down, I was the only one in the room sitting at the table and I took the chance to observe my surroundings. There were only two other place settings in front of me. There were three exits from the room, the one I came through and one that was being used by staff members who brought out more food. I wasn't sure where the other exit lead to but it was nice to know that I would be able to see handle anything that happens as there wasn't room for many people to flood in here. My thoughts were interrupted when the third mystery door opened and out came an older man who I assumed was old man Kwon and a younger man who looked to be his double.

 

"Ah Miss Rossi thank you for joining us for dinner tonight. Please allow me to introduce my son Jiyong."

I stood from my spot and gave a small bow before smiling at the two. "It is a pleasure Mr. Kwon."

Old man Kwon sat as he said, "Please have a seat Miss Rossi."

 

I sat down and placed a napkin in my lap and waited for the older man to speak.

 

"So Miss Rossi what brings you here to Korea, we weren't expecting anyone from the states."

"A little bit of business and pleasure."

"I see, I wish your father had informed me and I would have made sure you were well taken care of. I was rather disturbed to hear about your attempted mugging. I hope you are ok, the streets can be scary from time to time especially for a pretty young foreign girl. I hear you have some friends here as well, are they ok?"

"Yes they are fine, they are relaxing at the hotel right now."

 

I watched Jiyong reach into his pocket and pull out his phone and type something in it before putting it on the table. Old man Kwon asked me how my trip has been and I explained everything that I have done up until now.

 

"It's a beautiful country here, I really hope to get outside of city and see the country-side or maybe visit Juju."

"I can set up a guide for you if you would like or maybe Jiyong here could take you."

 

Jiyong looked up at his father surprised by his suggestion but at that moment his phone vibrated and brought his attention along with his fathers to the object on the table.

 

"Son it is rude to be talking on your phone while we have company."

"I didn't mean to be rude, I had some business I needed to keep an eye on." Jiyong lifted his phone and read whatever the message was just as my phone vibrated in my pocket as well. I looked at my phone to see a message from one of the men from home.

 

Alex: Sofia the hotel has been hit, the girls are being escorted to the airport. A plane heading to Japan is set to take off in an hour. I have also informed Philip of this and we are awaiting your reply. If no reply is received within 10 minutes I will take that as you have been compromised and we will set out to retrieve you.

Sofia: Thank you for getting them out safely. I am fine for now, I still have my gun and knife. If I don't text you in 30 minutes send people to my current location.

 

I put my phone on the table and crossed my leg allowing me easy access to the knife I had stashed and crossed my arms as well allowing me to reach in and grab my gun if needed. I watched Jiyong's face as it went from confusion to anger within seconds as he slammed his phone down with a growl.

 

"Something wrong Jiyong?" I asked with a smile on my face.

"Son what is going on?'

"It seems we have a smart girl on our hands here father."

 

I smiled at the compliment as Jiyong waved his hand towards Youngbae who walked out of the room and came back with more men.

 

"Son what is this meaning of this?"

"Father I had sent some men to retrieve Miss Rossi's friends and hold them until we could get a real answer as to why she was here, but as it turns out her hotel was a front. When my men arrived, they were only met with a single man occupying the hotel and other then his belongings there was nothing else to show that there were other women staying there."

"Miss Rossi is this true?"

"Yes that is true, we were never staying at a hotel."

 

Jiyong nodded towards a man who came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

 

"Miss Rossi why are you here?" Old man kwon asked now with his own arms crossed against his chest.

"Business and pleasure."

"What business Miss Rossi."

"Family business."

"Take her." Jiyong shouted to the man holding my shoulder.

 

Before anyone could move with one hand I grabbed my knife from my boot and the other hand grabbed the man's hand slamming it down on the table before I plunged my knife into it causing him to scream out in pain and Jiyong to shoot up from his chair and drawing a gun out aiming it at me.

 

"It's rude to aim your gun at a guest Jiyong or is that not a common courtesy here?"

 

I sat back down and crossed my leg before I reached into my breast and drew my own gun and held it in my hand and stared down the younger man.

 

"Jiyong lower your gun and sit down. Please excuse my son Miss Rossi as he young and doesn't know any better."

"I can understand you wanting to know why I am here but to send men to capture my friends and hold them hostage until you got as much info out of me is bad form. My hotel room is monitored and information has already been relayed to my father."

 

My phone started to ring and picked it up to see my father showing up on the caller ID, I answered it and put it on speaker before setting it back down on the table so that everyone would be able to hear.

 

"Sofia what is the status of the current situation?"

"Hostile at best father, it seems our Korean partners don't trust us or me. My friends have been evacuated and currently I am sitting at a dinner table with a gun drawn on me."

 

The man with the knife in his hand cried out again as he tried to move the knife.

 

"What was that? Who was that?"

"Ah yes, unfortunately a man currently is being held to the table by my knife. Probably shouldn't have tried to overtake me."

My father chuckled over the speaker, "Mr. Kwon it looks like you need to train your men better, if my daughter was able to sneak in her knife then it's safe to assume she also has her gun drawn as well?"

"That would be an accurate assumption Mr. Rossi, but I assure you this is all a misunderstanding. If your daughter would please put her gun away then we can settle down and get to the bottom of this."

"My Sofia will put hers away once she knows she is safe and there is no need for it."

 

Old man Kwon nodded to the men in the room to leave and one of them came to collect the currently injured man. He pulled the knife out leaving it on the table and helped him from the room. I watched Jiyong holster his gun and I did the same to mine and then took my napkin and cleaned off my knife before slipping it back into my boot.

 

"Mr. Rossi I am very sorry for my stupid son's actions, I am sure he had the best intentions but he doesn't think things through fully. We were just asking Miss Rossi here why she was currently here, could you possibly explain this?"

"Yes, I was actually going to call you tomorrow about this. My daughter will be the one representing me in our partnership there. She will be a permanent fixture there making sure our best interest is being taken into account. Anything you need you only need to go through her, I trust my daughter to make the best choices possible. I sent Sofia there early so that she could get herself set up with a residence and to get information on having a small practice set up there as that is her background."

 

I smiled at the surprised look on both of the male Kwon's faces, clearly, they didn't think my father would send a woman to handle our side of the operations.

 

"I see, I assumed you were sending someone else."

"I trust Sofia fully, she has been trained to take over the business once I step down, this is a good experience for her. Don't let her appearance fool you Mr. Kwon, she takes after her mother in both looks and ruthlessness, she only takes after me in the business sense. Sofia is no stranger to violence or bloodshed, my daughter will take a life as easily as making a choice of wine to drink."

 

I could hear the pride in my father's voice as he spoke of me, it only made me smile wider.

 

"Duly noted Mr. Rossi, why don't you call my phone and we can talk about where we should go from here."

 

My father hung up his call to me before I heard Mr. Kwon's phone ring. He answered it and stood to walk out of the room leaving me with Jiyong. We both sat there staring each other down. He broke the silence first.

 

"Would you like a drink?"

"Sure."

 

We both stood and I followed him out of the room and down some stairs to another large room with some couches and tv.

 

"Have a seat, what would you like? I have brandy, whisky, bourbon, wine, sake, and of course some soju."

"I will take a glass of red wine please."

 

Jiyong joined me at the couch handing me a glass of wine before he sat down opposite of me.

 

"So it seems I will be seeing more of you."

"Yes you will."

"Smart move with the hotel."

"Thank you, I had to be careful to make sure my true residence wasn't found out. Plus I had to keep my friends safe as well."

"How did you get your weapons past our guard?"

"I am a woman after all, I only needed to use my body to distract your guard. He didn't have a chance to fully pat down my boots or my chest."

 

Jiyong rubbed his chin as he swished the amber liquid in his glass around and looked at me from head to toe.

 

"I will have to have a long talk with him. You are a very attractive woman Miss Rossi."

I interrupted him, "Please, call me Sofia."

"Very well Sofia, as I was saying you are a very attractive woman so I could see how you could distract him. The men aren't use to having to check women for weapons as closely as they do for other males."

I shrugged my shoulders, "They should always suspect anyone is carrying, whether they are male or female."

"I suppose you are right. Well since we have the reason you are here out in the open would you like me to show you around? I can introduce you to my men and if you aren't busy we can take some time to check out Juju."

I smiled, "I would like that very much."

 

The rest of the night was spent swapping stories from our past endeavors and my stories from medical school. I didn't stay too long and eventually called Alex to come collect me and take me back home. I promised to meet Jiyong at an art club his friend ran the next day and bid him farewell. I sat in the back seat of the car watching the buildings go by as I thought back on the events of the night and smiled at how cocky Jiyong was with thinking he could pull one over on me.

 

I laughed a little before speaking softly, "silly boy."


	2. Chapter 2

** Sofia **

Even with my intentions being known to the Kwons I still felt a little uneasy and decided to keep my breast strap in place along with keeping some knives on me as well just in case. Today I opted for some black jeans that hugged my body and a buttoned-up silk shirt leaving the top buttons undone exposing some cleavage and allowing me access to my hidden firearm and topped it all off with a more casual blazer. I had Alex drive me to the art club and told him that if he or the men were needed I would call him.

I walked into the building and was surprised at what I saw. Art was hung up on the walls with large standing art pieces placed around the floor of the building. In the back of the building was in fact a bar with tables and chairs giving the patrons a chance to sit and talk while also looking at smaller art pieces around the room. I walked up to a large painting that caught my eye. The lines were harsh and colors dark. I tilted my head to the side and crossed my arms while I took the painting in. I imagined the painter must have been going through something deep and painful while he made this masterpiece. As I gazed upon the painting I felt myself being watched and soon felt another presence come up next to me.

 

“I see Macabre has caught your eye.”

 

I looked away from the painting to the man who stood next to me, more like towered over me. He was in a dark blue suit that fit him very well and wore a pair of black glasses. His chiseled jaw caught my attention and wondered if he himself was a piece of art work on display here because he certainly looked like he belonged here to be gazed upon by the patrons.

 

“Indeed, it has.” I said as I turned back to the painting.

“Whenever I see this I can’t help but see the lines and think about how much passion the painter had while he made this.”

“I was thinking something similar as well. The harshness of the lines leads me to believe he was hurt possibly by a lover or was denied by the woman he loved.”

“Maybe it’s not painted from pain but from love.”

I shook my head, “No this is clearly pain, look at the color choice. It’s dark reds, black, grays, had it been something happy it might have been a lighter color choice.” I pointed to parts that were a little more rigged while I added “Right here his strokes changed, as if he applied more pressure to the brush. Maybe he was reminded of something said or done. Maybe his lover left him for someone else. He is clearly taking his pain out on this painting.”

“I like your interpretation of this painting. Please forgive me for not introducing myself earlier.” He turned to me and extended his hand, “My name is Choi Seunghyun.”

I took his hand in mine and shook it, “Pleasure to meet you my name is Sofia Rossi.”

 

A quick look of shock crossed his face only for a brief second before it was gone and he smiled lifting my hand to lay a soft kiss on my knuckles.

 

“The pleasure is all mine Miss Rossi.”

 

He released my hand and I let it drop back to my side and smiled up at him lost in his eyes. I was brought out of my trance when I heard someone clear their throat. I tore my eyes away from the man who could put the statue of David to shame if he was ever sculpted out of marble to find Jiyong standing next to me.

 

“I see you have met Seunghyun the man who runs this establishment.”

“Yes, we were just discussing a piece of art.”

“Mmhmm, he is often described as a piece of art by many people.”

 

I felt myself blush a little clearly caught by Jiyong staring at Seunghyun.

 

“Ji don’t tease the poor girl. What brings you here?”

“I was supposed to meet Miss Rossi.. I mean Sofia here. I was going to show her around and talk a little business. Youngbae is outside waiting with the car right now. I was going to show her around the businesses we have and introduce her to each of you.”

“Shall we take this into my office then?”

 

Jiyong nodded his head and Seunghyun put his hand on my lower back directing to what I assumed was his office. His office was a decent size with a large desk and a couch and chair sitting in front. I took a seat on the couch along with Jiyong while Seunghyun sat down in the chair facing us. Seunghyun crossed his legs placing his hands in his lap while he waited for someone to speak, Jiyong was the one again to break the silence.

 

“Sofia here was sent by her father to be the one in charge of the Rossi interest in the new partnership. We were just informed of this last night while she came to have dinner with my father and me. I figured it would be a good idea if she was given a tour of the places we run so that she is aware of how large our presence is here.”

 

Seunghyun nodded his head and Jiyong turned and continued his explanation.

 

“Seunghyun here runs the art trade for our family. He finds the best replication artists from around the world and flies them in. When an order is placed for a particular piece of artwork he sets out to have a replication made prior to swapping out the original and selling it. He also sells replications to rich housewives of Korea who want to impress people. Whether that be a painting or a vase to some kind tapestry. It’s a very lucrative business for Seunghyun and brings in a decent amount of money for our family.”

I nodded my head, “Have you ever dealt with artwork that was on display in museums? What do you do if you get a request for something along those lines?”

Seunghyun smiled at me before answering my question, “I have had requests like that before in the past. A few of them were for pieces already on display but most of them were for pieces that were in the process of being validated. I wait for all the paperwork to be done before I send men in to retrieve the piece and replace it. Of course, the higher the chance of being caught means the higher price tag so we don’t get them that often.”

“So, are all the pieces here originals or replications?”

“Replications, I keep the originals safely hidden away.”

“What happens if you are caught or someone starts to question the authenticity of the work?”

Jiyong chuckled a little, “We have people on payroll in the art world who help put those who question us at ease. In the event that this leads towards a more legal route we have lawyers who will handle this, I will introduce you later to our main one.”

 

I nodded my head pleased with how they handled these things.

 

“Which reminds me we should be heading out as we have another place to visit. Seunghyun why don’t you join us for dinner tonight.”

“I would love to.”

Jiyong stood and I followed before Seunghyun again took my hand and brought it to his lips for a gentle kiss, “See you tonight then.”

 

I blushed again before smiling and following Jiyong out the door. Youngbae was standing next to the car and opened the door for me and Jiyong to slip in the back seat before he closed it and climbed into the passenger seat.

 

“I thought I would have to come in and get you two. We have to meet Seungri in 30 minutes at the warehouse.”

“Blame Seunghyun, you know how he can be. Or was it Sofia here who held us up?”

 

Jiyong looked at me with a smirk on his lips and an eyebrow raised. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him, clearly, I was very much caught by him but didn’t want to give him that kind of power.

 

“What? I like art too and that Macabre piece was rather interesting.”

“I’m sure that wasn’t the only piece that caught your attention.” Jiyong teased as Youngbae laughed from the front seat.

“Of course, there were other piece of ART work on display that also caught my attention.” I tried to emphasize the word art to get my point across but clearly that didn’t help as both of them broke out in loud laughs.

“Sofia just let it go, the man has been described as a walking piece of art. I saw the way you looked him, it was the same way many other women have also looked at him. Just be careful before you are added to his long list of women who have been stung by him.”

 

I crossed my arms hating that he thought I would be the one left hurt if anything were to happen between us.

 

“Not that anything would happen, why do you think that I would be the one in pain after?” I raised my eyebrow before adding, “il serpente doesn’t get hurt from its lovers, it consumes them. I would worry more about your friend then me.”

Youngbae had turned his head to look at me and Jiyong during our conversation and he let out whistle with an astonished look on his face, “Ji, I feel like this girl might fit in perfectly with us. I can’t wait to see how this plays out.”

“Me too, this shall be interesting.”

 

With the conversation over the boys both turned to their phones and started busying themselves while we drove to the warehouse. I took that chance to touch base with my team to let them know everything was fine. I also sent a text to my friends to make sure they made it back to the states safely. When we arrived at the warehouse Youngbae opened the door for me and Jiyong to exit the vehicle before he followed behind us into the warehouse.

The warehouse was like any normal one, they were all pretty much the same in any country. This one was packed with crates on top of crates, many were labeled with normal household items while others were labeled in a language I didn’t know. Jiyong led me to a door that held a stairway going down below the warehouse. My hands went inside the pockets of my blazer feeling the knives I had hidden in the jacket. Feeling the metal with my fingers helped put me at ease as I disliked the current surroundings. Even if we were getting along I still didn’t know these two men nor did I know the man we were going to meet. When we finally made it to the bottom there was a man waiting near a door armed with a semi-automatic rifle. He bowed to Jiyong before entering a passcode and opening the door allowing us to enter.

Again, we were met with more crates but this time they were open and as we walked by I allowed myself to look inside to see guns of different sizes, from your standard 9mm handguns to larger sniper rifles. Jiyong navigated the way to another door where he knocked once before entering. Inside was a man sitting behind a desk typing away on his computer. When we entered he stopped immediately and stood coming around his desk to take Jiyong into a onesided hug and doing the same with Youngbae as well.

 

“Seungri, I would like to introduce you to Sofia Rossi. She will be the one heading her father’s part of the partnership.”

 

Seungri stretched out his hand for me to shake and thankfully he didn’t try to kiss it like Seunghyun. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Sofia.”

 

“Pleasure to meet you Seungri, that’s some impressive shipments you have out there.”

“Yes, those arrived last week and we are still trying to categories them and log them in. Please come and have a seat.” He motioned for us to sit on the couches to the side of his desk.

 

We all sat down on the couches and I took the time to look at Seungri. He was a little taller than Jiyong and Youngbae and looked to be younger than the two men as well. While Jiyong was thin but muscular and Youngbae was more stocky and muscular, Seungri was a happy medium of the two builds. You could tell he worked out but not enough to have a six pack or overly muscular arms.

 

“So what brings you all to my little slice of hell?”

“I was just bringing Sofia around to our business to introduce her to our little group. We just left the art club where she got a chance to meet Seunghyun.”

“Oh and how did that little meeting go with the resident art enthusiast?”

“It went rather well, I feel like the interactions between the two will bring us all some excitement.”

 

Both Youngbae and Jiyong let out a laugh as Seungri’s eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning.

 

“I see, so Sofia you have taken a liking to our walking piece of art?”

 

I could feel my frustration building inside me with how much these guys were teasing me about this. I was trying to keep everything cool and not explode but I had enough of their bullshit.

 

“Oh for fucks sake, yes I thought the man was attractive but that doesn’t mean shit. I also find you guys attractive as well but you don’t see me clawing at you so I can have my way with you. So just let it go!” I ended with a huff and crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the guys.

Seungri smiled, “Oh, this shall be fun indeed.”

Before I could say anything Jiyong pipped up, “Seungri why don’t you go ahead and explain to Sofia your part in all this.”

“Well Sofia I handle the arms import for the family. It’s my job to make sure I have top quality firearms coming in, the family can’t be tied up with anything of low class. So, I work with other arms dealers from around Asia to acquire top quality goods. Once we receive shipments in we have to categories them and put them into inventory. We make sure that anything coming in has a clean background prior to putting them out for purchase. We are the top family here for firearms and provide them to other families and smaller organizations.”

I nodded my head, “How do you get them past customs?”

“We have men on payroll in customs both on the port side and airline side. They come in under different cargo listings and our men make sure they are not searched. They are also shipped with a fake destination so that if they are seized and searched it cannot be traced back to the family. We run a tight ship here and we leave no room for error.”

“That’s very reassuring as part of the new partnership will also be dealing with the import of firearms. Our family runs firearms in and out of the States between us and the family back in Italy. My father wants to expand that plus a few other things that we can all discus at a future time.”

Jiyong nodded and waived his hand in the air, “Yes we can all discuss that later. I have a few more places I want to show Sofia before dinner. Seungri, you will be joining us correct?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

 

With that Jiyong rose with the rest of us and we made our way back to the car. Jiyong drove us around the city and introduced me to a few other individuals who held higher ranks in the family and showed me a few store fronts his family operated out of. By dinner time he had us pulling up to a rather expensive looking restaurant. We were met by what I presumed to be the owner who bowed to Jiyong before escorting us past all the tables and back to a private room. When he opened the door inside sitting at the table laughing was Seunghyun, Seungri, and another man whom I had not met yet. Said man stood and walked up to me and took my hand in his and shot me a dazzling smile.

 

“You must be Sofia; the guys have been telling me all about you.”

“Yes, I am Sofia. Who might you be?”

“Where are my manners, I am Kang Daesung. I am the family’s primary lawyer, the one who comes to rescue these guys when they mess something up.”

Jiyong walked past Daesung and patted him on the shoulder, “You mean the other guys because I don’t mess anything up.”

 

Daesung rolled his eyes before letting go of my hand and showing me to an empty chair. Youngbae was the one to add his two sense to Jiyong’s comment.

 

“That’s not how it played out the other day, you messed up big time then.”

Jiyong glared at his friend, “How did I know she would have a decoy hotel room.”

I smiled, “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t make me stupid. Here I am alone in a new country and responsible for my friend’s safety, do you honestly think I would just keep us in a hotel that was very much public?” I shook my head, “I would like to think that anyone in my shoes would have played it the same way.”

 

I looked around the room at the faces of the guys and saw Jiyong with his lips pulled to a thin line clearly not happy that I outsmarted him. While Youngbae, Seungri, and Daesung all nodded their heads agreeing with me. Seunghyun on the other hand had his hands clasped together with his chin resting on them. He was watching me with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes, I couldn’t place that look but if I had to describe it I would have to say it was a mixture of hunger and adoration.

 

Daesung waived his hands in the air to clear away any ill vibes, “Enough talk about the past let’s eat and enjoy the time we have. How about a toast, to a new partnership with the Rossi family and to building a strong friendship with Sofia.” Daesung raised his glass along with the rest of us and we clinked glasses.

 

After the toast, we all ordered our food and started to have some drinks. It was interesting watching the guys all interact with each other. Here sat five men who all have a role in the Kwon family business and who were probably no stranger to death. But outside of their labels they were all just childhood friends who stuck together through thick and thin. The stories they told ranged from funny to more serious. I heard about their first loves, their first kills, the first time they got caught by their parents sneaking a woman into their house. They had me laughing so hard I had tears coming to my eyes. They then turned their attention to me.

 

“So Sofia, when was your first kill?” Jiyong asked.

“I think I was probably about 19, it was my first year of college and I was living on campus. I was out partying with some friends and wasn’t paying attention to anything going on around me. I was just excited to be away from my father’s watchful eye and was trying to live my life. I didn’t notice some guy had put something in my drink until it was too late. The guy had offered to walk me home and my friends had long gone ditched me to go home with guys they found that night. I don’t really remember much after we left the club except for one of my dad’s men ripping the guy off me in some alleyway. When I woke up the next day I was in a hotel room and one of the family physicians was checking me out. I was later told that the men had slipped a drug into my drink but he didn’t get a chance to do any other harm to me as my father had his men watching my every move. When I was given the all clear I was brought to the docks near my college where they had the man bloodied and tied up to a chair. One of my father’s men handed me a folder that had this guy’s criminal history on it, after reading through it I learned this wasn’t his first time drugging a girl and attempting to rape her. How he was still on the street free to do this again just boggled my mind. I was angry that the judicial system allowed this to happen. I didn’t say anything to the man tied up or to my father’s men. I just reached out and grabbed one of their guns and walked up to the guy and shot him in the head. I didn’t feel bad at all for taking that man’s life, if the system wasn’t going to protect women from him then it was my duty to make sure he was never given another chance to do it again.”

 

I took another drink of my wine and looked around at the guys. Their faces were all surprised, clearly not expecting my answer to be that.

 

Seungri spoke up trying to change the mood, “Well that was kind of dark. Ummm……ah I know. Who was the first guy you slept with and how was it?”

 

I all but spit out the wine I was drinking when I heard him ask that question.

 

“You can’t possibly expect me to answer that?”

“Why not?” Seunghyun asked, “We already shared ours, sharing is caring after all.” He smirked.

 

I huffed before answering the question.

 

“I was probably 16 and I think his name was Antonio. He was on the football team for the all-boys school that was partnered with my all-girls school. We met through mutual friends and started dating. It was the normal first-time experience. We were in the back of his BMW that he had parked in the woods hidden from the street. Of course the two of us were both inexperience and fumbled our whole way through it, I even accidentally hit him in the nose as he was trying to take my shirt off.” I laughed at the memory of him holding his nose fearing that it would bleed. “Then when we were finally unclothed and laid out we didn’t know what else to do and we just kind of jumped into it. Had we done some kind of foreplay I am sure it would have hurt less and would have been more enjoyable. Of course, he didn’t last for more than a minute before he was grunting out his release and I was left lying there with him on top of me wondering what the big deal was about sex. I didn’t get any enjoyment out of it at all and went home rather angry and didn’t speak to him for weeks.”

 

The guys all laughed at my story and took turns calling Antonio different nicknames. I just sat there drinking my wine and laughing along with them. We went through some more questions and more bottles of wine for me and soju for the guys. Seungri then suggested that we should move the party to a more private setting and offered his house. We all got up and stumbled our way to our vehicles where there were designated drivers waiting for us. The ride to Seungri’s house gave me enough time to sober up and answer some texts from Alex and the team. I told them I was fine and would check in later.

When we pulled up to Seungri’s house it was another gated home but much smaller than Jiyong’s house as it was only him living there. When we walked in he told us to make ourselves at home while he went to use the restroom. I flopped down on the couch as Youngbae went to turn on some music. Daesung and Seunghyun were off fetching more drinks and Jiyong also snuck off some place but I wasn’t sure where. Youngbae was dancing to some music and Daesung brought food and Seunghyun carried a tray of glasses and more soju with a bottle of wine tucked under his arm. He poured some shots for the guys and poured me a glass of wine and handed it to me. I took it just as Seungri and Jiyong emerged from whereever with smiles on their faces. The guys all downed a shot as they sat down and Jiyong looked at me.

 

“Sofia why don’t you take your jacket off and get comfortable.”

 

Even with the wine running through my system I still knew to keep my jacket on but I did want to get comfortable as I knew I would be here for a while. So I took my jacket off and laid it on the arm of the couch that I was sitting on. Jiyong stood and grabbed my jacket before I could have a chance to snatch it back.

 

“Let me just go hang this up.” He said as he walked away feeling the jacket and finding my knives. “Oh what do we have here.” He said as he pulled them out and showing the guys.

I shrugged my shoulders, “What a girl can’t be too careful. They are nothing but mere protections, think of them as condoms if you would. You wouldn’t leave your house without a condom, now would you? What if you needed one desperately but didn’t have it. I just carry them as a precaution.”

 

I took another drink of my wine as all the guys burst out laughing hard. Jiyong placed the knives back in my jacket before hanging it up. He comes back to the group and sits down next to Youngbae and Seungri on the opposite couch of me Daesung and Seunghyun. We spent the night listening to music and playing some interesting drinking games that I had never heard of. Safe to say I was drinking far more then I wanted to but at the same time I was thankful for what they called a black knight which was one of the guys taking the drink for me. It was getting rather late when Youngbae said he was going to turn in for the night heading off to a spare room that Seungri had and Daesung followed shortly after also stumbling his way to the room that held Youngbae.

 

Seungri was bobbing his head to the beat as Jiyong was loading up some more shots for them. He handed a shot to Seungri who shook his head, “No more for me, it’s getting late and I am tired.”

 

Jiyong took both his shot and Seungri’s shot before he stood and helped a sleepy Seungri to his feet and both of them walked towards the bedrooms. Now it was just Seunghyun and I sitting alone in the living room listening to music. I held my wine glass in my hand swirling the dark red liquid around.

 

“Would you like anything more to drink?” Seunghyun asked.

“No thank you, I should probably call Alex to come get me.”

“Who is Alex?”

“He is my right-hand man, he is the one my father sent over here to assist me.”

 

Seunghyun scooted closer to me on the couch and took the wine glass from me setting it down on the coffee table before he turned his attention back to me.

 

“Does this Alex assist you in every way?” He asked with a devilish smirk on his face before he brought his hand up to my face and brushed his knuckles along my cheek.

“He assists me in any way I need for business. Why do you want to know?” I asked moving my hand to his leg. I knew where he was trying to take this and I didn’t plan on letting him have all the fun.

“I just wanted to know if there was any competition or anyone standing in the way.”

“There is no competition nor anyone in the way.”

Seunghyun hummed as he licked his lips looking from my eyes down to my lips. I could sense he wanted to make a move but felt he was holding back so I leaned closer to him keeping our lips only inches from each other before I whispered, “If you don’t have the courage to backup your questions then maybe you are playing at the wrong level.” I smiled as I pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

 

Seunghyun squinted his eyes and let out a low growl before his hand came back up to grasp my face and pulled it to him. Our lips smashed together so hard that our teeth collided as we fought for dominance. My hands went to his shirt and slowly unbuttoned it so I could feel his chest and run my fingers down it causing him to groan into the kiss. This allowed me the chance to deepen the kiss using my tongue to explore every bit of his mouth. He tasted bitter sweet from the mixture of the soju and the red wine he had been sipping off of. It was my turn to moan when I felt him grab my ass and lift me up to straddle him on the couch. I was so lost in the passion and the taste of him that I didn’t register what he was doing until he had my shirt unbuttoned and on the floor. He was working on the clasp to my bra when I pulled away from kiss.

 

“We should stop.”

Seunghyun looked up in my eyes, “What’s wrong?”

 

I bit down on my lip not wanting to answer it as there wasn’t anything wrong other then I had a gun hidden in my bra. Both of us were so lost in what was going on between us that we didn’t even notice Jiyong had walked into the kitchen.

 

“Bro, she doesn’t want you unclasping that bra because she probably has a gun hidden there again.” Jiyong laughed as he carried two water bottles back down the hallway leaving me with my mouth hung open.

“Is that why? Do you have a gun hidden in this sexy little bra of yours?”

 

I looked back down at him with my bottom lip between my teeth and nodded my head.

 

“Don’t worry about that baby girl, I have a gun strapped to my leg.” He moved to the side and sure enough brought a gun up from his leg and showed it to me.

 

I laughed a little and reached into my bra to grab the small gun I had hidden in there and showed it to him. We both smiled as he took my gun and his in one hand and held onto me tightly with his other. He leaned forward bending me backwards so he could place the guns on the table before pulling us back right.

 

“Now, where were we.”

 

Seunghyun captured my lips with his again as his hands went back to unclasp my bra freeing my breasts and letting it fall to the floor along with my breast strap. I moaned into the kiss when I felt one of his hands go to my breast kneading it in his large hand. I could feel my body heat up and moaned even more when I felt him buck up allowing his erection to put pressure where I needed him.

 

“Seunghyun, please.” I said as I pulled away from his lips and grounded myself onto his erection needing more friction.

“Such an eager baby girl aren’t we.”

“If you don’t take my pants off and give me what I want I am going to go back there and see which one of the guys will do what you won’t.”

 

That must have done the trick as I heard and felt the growl come from his chest as he stood and carried me still wrapped around him to another room off on the opposite side of the house. He kicked the ajar door open so he could walk in and then kicked it shut with his foot. He took two large strides to the bed before he tossed me on it causing me to bounce and squeal in delight.

 

“Trust me baby girl, those guys won’t be doing anything for you. If you want to poke the demon in me then you better be prepared to handle him.”

I smiled an evil sinful smile at him, the thought of a rough Seunghyun caused a new wave of arousal to overtake my body, “I can handle anything you have, I am not one of your sweet innocent art girls. You don’t know me nor do you know what I can handle. Bring on this demon, let me meet him.”

 

Seunghyun smiled down at me and caused my body to break out in goosebumps as I have seen such a smile on the faces of our men right before they take a life. This smile didn’t scare me but instead turned me on. Seunghyun bent down to my pants unbuttoning them and taking them down along with my panties in one full swoop. I was now fully naked in front of this man and allowed him to gaze upon my body, I worked hard for this body and was damn proud of it. Seunghyun licked his lips before he got down on his knees and used his hands to grab my butt pulling me to the edge of the bed where he nudged my legs apart with his head.

 

“I hope you are ready baby girl.”

 

I didn’t even get a chance to answer before his lips descended on me. He used his tongue to open me allowing him to taste me fully. The man’s tongue was like magic licking and prodding me causing me to throw my head back in ecstasy and moan like a crazy woman. I didn’t even care if the other guys in the house could hear me. I felt his long finger penetrate me as his tongue went to my swollen clit circling it before he sucked on it.

 

“Fuck!” I shouted out at the new sensation running through my body.

 

He didn’t let up on his movements but instead inserted another finger into me stretching me and finding that perfect little bundle of nerves. With every pass of his fingers I could feel my orgasm getting closer and closer. My hands went to his head grabbing a handful of his hair causing him to pull his lips away but keeping his fingers pumping in and out of me.

 

“Are you close baby girl?”

I nodded my head yes before I shoved his head back down where I needed him. “God yes please don’t stop.”

 

I felt him smile into my lower lips before he took my clit again and sucked on it. His pace quickened hitting that bundle of nerves faster. When he used his teeth to bite down on my clit I was sent over the edge as my orgasm took control of my body and I shouted out a string of cuss words as I rode his mouth and fingers. When my orgasm subsided, he stood up and undid his pants before he scooted me up the bed allowing him to nestle himself between my legs. Our lips met yet again and I could taste myself on his lips, I tasted sweet like a plum.

 

“I don’t plan on going gentle on you baby girl, with just watching you cum apart on my fingers has caused my cock to grow painfully large. We shall take our time another night, but right now I need to be inside you.”

 

I nodded my head and felt him thrust his rather large member inside me with one fluid movement. I gasped out loud as the sheer size of him, not thinking he could have been this large. I felt as if he was going to tear me into two as I had never had a man before who was this endowed. After he allowed me to get use to his size he began to move. His motions were long and hard and we were both looking into each other’s eyes with every thrust he made. Neither of us cared how loud we were being, the bed was smashing against the wall very violently with each of his thrusts. I could feel myself becoming more aroused and knew I could easily cum again if only he would quicken his pace.

 

“Faster.” I begged.

 

He gladly obliged and took hold of my hip with one hand and braced himself with the other. He quickened his pace as I asked and was hitting the spot again with every thrust he made.

 

“Yes just like that, so close.”

My eyes shot shut and my head tilted back. I felt his lips on mine briefly before he spoke, “No baby girl keep those eyes open for me.”

 

I opened my eyes again and looked into his chocolate orbs that seemed darker than they were before. Looking into them and hearing our combined breaths with the smell of sex stringent in the room was more than enough to send me over the edge. I moaned out and clamped down on him and I rode out my second orgasm that night.

 

“Fuck you’re so tight.”

 

He growled out and quickened his pace even more clearly chasing his own orgasm. I lifted my head up to capture his lips to kiss him and took his bottom lip between my teeth and bit down hard enough to draw blood. I let him go just as I felt his movements become rigid and him cursing out as he shot hot streams deep inside me. We both laid there with our foreheads touching as we tried to catch our breaths. He was the first one to speak after a few minutes.

 

“Better than Antonio?”

I laughed, “Yes, better than Antonio.”

“Safe to say it’s the best you ever had?”

“I don’t know about that.”

He lifted his head and smiled before saying, “Then I clearly need to improve on my technique.”

 

We both laughed as he rolled off of me and stood to grab something to wipe up our combined mess. Once we were cleaned as best as we could get he climbed back in bed pulling me to rest my head on his chest.

 

“Sleep baby girl, you are going to need it because the guys will be giving you an earful tomorrow.”

 

I groaned knowing he was right.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: I need to just give you all a heads up that this chapter does get dark and touches on torture and mutilation. If you are squeamish then please proceed with caution.

** Sofia **

The smell of fresh coffee slowly woke me from my sleep, the heavy arm wrapped around my stomach brining back memories from the night before. I smiled as I slowly lifted his arm enough for me to slide out from under it. I heard him roll over and let out a groan as I looked around for some clothing, spotting a button up shirt.

 

“Come back to bed, it’s still early.”

“I need coffee, and from the smell of it there is some fresh coffee being made.”

 

I stood up and walked over to the shirt and heard Seunghyun let out a low whistle.

 

“That is a very interesting tattoo you have there, I wouldn’t have pegged you for that. Maybe something like a flower but not a snake.”

 

I buttoned up the shirt and turned towards him to see him getting out of the bed and pulling on some pants before tossing me some. I sat on the bed and put them on explaining to him that the tattoo was actually the snake from our family crest.

 

“Everyone has the crest somewhere on their body, my mother has it on her ankle and my father has it on his chest. I got this after my first kill, my father’s guards took me since my father was out of town. They were all teasing me because they knew how much I hated needles. I was originally going to get the crest on my shoulder blade but I wanted to prove to them that I wasn’t some girly girl. I cried a few times but after they were all impressed, unlike my mom who was upset I went so big with it. My dad just puffed his chest out and said that he was proud of me, that not many of his men can stand the pain that comes from a spinal tattoo.”

“I imagine not, that looks like it was painful.”

 

I nodded my head because it was rather painful. Seunghyun opened the door and lead the way back out. Youngbae was at the stove making breakfast with Daesung assisting him. Seungri and Jiyong were both sitting at the counter drinking some coffee and going through their phones. Seunghyun grabbed me a glass handing it to me before pouring some very dark coffee into it.

 

“I see you two had some fun last night.” I heard Jiyong say causing Youngbae and Daesung to laugh.

“More like heard the fun last night, we heard you two as if we were in the same room with you.” Seungri added in before laughing.

 

Seunghyun pulled a chair out for me to sit with him at the table before he went to grab us a plate of food. I sipped on my coffee listening to him defend us but really they were only speaking the truth. I knew we were rather loud last night but there was nothing to be ashamed of, we were adults and just doing what came natural to us.

 

“You guys should just drop it, that is no way to talk about a lady.”

“Seunghyun it’s fine, I am not ashamed and at times I am far from a lady. Last night being one of those times so there is no need to defend my honor.”

 

Seunghyun sat down with our plates and flashed me a lazy smile that made me want to go right back into his bedroom for another round. I never met a man who could look more and more handsome every time I look at him, it just couldn’t be possible. I knew that I had to tread carefully with this and keep it from becoming too personal.

After breakfast, I went and changed back into my clothes making sure I had everything I needed before I called Alex to pick me up. Seunghyun had offered to drive me home but I declined, I still had my privacy and I wanted to keep things that way. My place wasn’t that far from here so it didn’t take Alex that long to get to me. On the way home Alex asked if I had fun and I laughed and said I had a very fun night. Of course, he had to ask if I needed to stop off at a pharmacy for any hangover meds, he was only teasing and I sat forward to punch him in the arm. Alex wasn’t that much older than me and he wasn’t only a protector but also a close friend, an older brother if you will. I don’t know what I would have done without him, he was the one to cover my back when I wanted to sneak out and the one to come to my defense if I needed it.

After we got home I took a shower and sat down to relax and answer some emails from back home. My friends wanted to see how I was doing and wanted to know if I met any cute guys yet, I laughed and sent them a vague response that would leave them guessing. My mother wanting to make sure I was ok and asked if I needed anything from home, just the normal mother comments and reminding me to take care of myself and take my vitamins. An email from my father asking how things were going with the Kwons and to see if I needed anything from home. He also reminded me to watch myself and to stay armed. Even if the emails said different things, my parents were so very similar. I loved them both so much and missed home but knew that I needed to do this, not just to show my family I was ready to take things on but to show myself I could handle this.

With the emails answered, I called Alex to see if he had located any buildings for my office and he mentioned he had a couple in mind. I asked him to have the car ready as I wanted to get an office space set up so I could start practicing again. It was late in the afternoon and I had hoped that I wouldn’t run into too many problems finding a place. I wanted my office to be set up in one of the better parts of town but also in a central location. I didn’t want to have to travel to far from my office to see my patients. We looked at a couple of spaces but they lacked either location or the right atmosphere. The last one we looked at was a decent size office space and was in a prime location. There was also other professional businesses in the same building such as a law firm, and a few smaller start up business. Alex was standing at the door as I walked around the space loving that it had big windows that allowed lots of natural lighting in. I knew right away that this had to be the best option. I informed the man who was showing me the spaces that I would take this one and he had me transfer some money and sign some paper-work. Instead of buying the space right out I decided to rent it, I didn’t want to be buying any long term spaces outside of my home. Just as I was signing the last form a rather attractive man knocked on the door and walked in. Alex watched his every move as he made his way to us.

 

“I hope I am not interrupting.” His voice was soft but had bit of roughness to it, it was a pleasant combination.

“Not at all CEO Kim, I was just getting the new renters signature.”

“I see, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kim Woo Bin, I am the owner of this building.”

I stood and lifted my hand to greet him, “It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Sofia Rossi.”

“The pleasure is all mine Miss Rossi, so what business will you be running if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I am actually a doctor so I have been looking for a small office to run my practice out of. I do house calls so I won’t be seeing patients from here. I just need a professional space for my practice.”

“I see, I hope you don’t find this too bold. Would you like to have some coffee, I would love to hear about your work and more about you?”

“Coffee sounds lovely.”

 

I was given the key and copies of the papers I signed which I handed off to Alex. Mr. Kim led the way to a coffee shop around the corner as Alex stayed a step behind us allowing some semblance of privacy but being near if needed. The coffee shop had a peaceful atmosphere about it, the colors were not overly bright and were more along the lines of elegant creams and pearls with some pastel blues. We ordered our drinks and then sat down to wait for them.

 

“So what brings you here Miss Rossi?”

“Please call me Sofia, and work is what brought me here. I wanted to branch out and learn new techniques.”

“I am sure that must be exciting but also rather scary. Is your family here with you or are you alone?”

“I am here alone, my family is all back home.”

“That must be hard, being away from your family and probably your boyfriend.”

I laughed, “It can be hard at times, but no there is no boyfriend. I prefer to spend my free time with my family or studying. There will be time later in life for that.”

“Indeed, no need to rush into things.”

 

Our drinks arrived and the conversation switched to more about how I got into the medical field and about things I have seen here in Korea. He made some suggestions of places to visit and things to see. The conversation was light and he didn’t ask anything too personal. Once our coffee was finished he bid me farewell and we went our separate ways. As we were on our way back home I got a text from Jiyong asking for me to come to his home tomorrow for a meeting, I said I would be there and figured it was about time to get down to business with his family.

I arrived around lunch time for the meeting, the Kwons invited me to dine with them and we chatted about small things and Mrs. Kwon was rather happy to hear I found an office space.

 

“Dear that is lovely, it sounds like it will be just perfect for you.”

“Thank you Mrs. Kwon I agree, it will be just what I need.”

“Oh come now, please call me mama Kwon. All the boys call me that and I have a feeling I will be seeing you around more.”

“If it will please you.”

“It will.”

Old man Kwon cleared his throat to get my attention, “How about we move this into my office now that lunch is over.”

We stood up to go to his office when mama Kwon stopped me, “Sofia before I lose you to my husband I wanted to invite you to the fundraiser ball we are having for the cancer society of Seoul. It would mean so much to have you there, it will be a great opportunity to meet other doctors in the area.”

 

I told her I would love to come and she patted my hand before I followed Jiyong into his father’s office. Jiyong and I sat across from his father’s desk as his father shut the office door and came around the other side sitting down and taking out a cigar. He offered me one but I declined, I was never one for cigars much to my father’s dismay, the one thing he really wished he had a son to do with.

 

“Sofia, would it be safe to assume you have talked in great lengths about this partnership with your father?”

“Yes I have, I understand what this means not only for my family but for yours as well. Our family would be one of your main buyers for firearms, and we would also be bankrolling your start-up casino here. Providing that goes well we will also be using our connections to help you set up a casino in Vegas.”

“That would be correct, I have acquired a hotel here which is where we will be having the casino placed in. Of course, the hotel will also bring in some money but it will be your family’s responsibility to help bring in clean untraceable money.”

“We will start off with a rather large sum of clean cash for your family to get things rolling. The only thing I have a problem with is that you seem to be getting more from this deal then my family. We are buying the firearms at full cost plus we are providing cash to the casino, what exactly are we to get out of this? How about you sell us the firearms at a discounted price, say 60% off the ticket price.”

 

Old man Kwon laughed and that price was a laughable amount, like hell was I going to come in low and get played.

 

“Now why would I give you such a sweet deal like that, maybe if our families were joined with marriage I could give you that price but unfortunately that won’t happen.” I watched him glance and Jiyong who just rolled eyes and crossed his arms. “How about 20%?”

“Not good enough, 50% would be reasonable.”

“50% means I will be having trouble with my other buyers selling to a foreign family for such a low cost, 25%.”

“Sir we are providing your family with a substantial amount of money to get things off the ground, I refuse to accept that percentage. In all honestly I refuse to accept anything less than 40%.”

“That will still cause me some issues, 35% is as high as I can go without making other families angry. With them angry I mind as well cancel this deal as it would cause us to lose rather than gain.”

“Fine, 35% off the price and we will expect a return on our investment with your casinos.”

“You will get your return and a little extra for all the hard work.”

 

Once our meeting was over with I had Alex take me to some dress shops around the area as I didn’t have anything to wear to the fundraiser. As I was browsing the dress selections in a rather small store I happened to hear a low cough next to me. I turned my head to find Seunghyun leaning against the wall smiling a devilish grin at me, I felt my heart speed up at the smile but kept my face straight.

 

“Well hello Sofia, what brings you here?”

“I would think it’s pretty obvious, I am looking for a dress.”

“I can see, let me guess, mama Kwon invited you to her fundraiser.”

“She did.”

“Well if you need anyone to give you on some feedback for your selection I humbly offer my service.”

 

I laughed at his comment just as a younger looking woman strolls up to him and links her arm with his.

 

“Oppa, where have you been? Why don’t you answer my calls?”

 

I watched Seunghyun try and shake his arm free and try to feed the poor woman some line as to why he was dodging her calls. I chuckled a bit to myself as I left the store and Seunghyun to defend for himself.

Over the next couple of days, I spent most of my time looking for a dress and buying things for my office. I had all the legal documents in order and only needed to furnish the place. Woo Bin, as he asked me to call him often stopped in to see if I needed anything and offered to help me with any heavy lifting or moving the furniture around. I thanked him but declined his offer as the furniture was just where I wanted it. He never stuck around and never invaded my personal space, he was very welcoming and it was very refreshing compared to some landlords back in the states.

The night of the party arrived before I knew it. Alex was there to drive me to the party and escorted me in, I told him I didn’t need him but he refused to leave me here alone but instead stuck to the shadows if I needed him. He wasn’t so much as concerned with my safety as a Rossi but as a woman with the dress I was wearing. I laughed at his concern and thought I was dressed rather modest compared to what I would have worn if I was back home. I had finally found a dress I liked, it was blood red and hugged my curves like a glove. The dress hung off my shoulders and didn’t show much cleavage nor was it low in the back, the only thing he had a problem with was how tight it was and the slit that went high up on my leg. Mama Kwon spotted me shortly after I arrived and wasted no time in dragging me around the room. She introduced me to the other board members of the cancer society, all of them were survivors of cancer like herself. She took the time to gush over the fact that I was a doctor and a friend of the family, the other women praised me for being where I was at such a young age. They mentioned that I would make a great addition to the Kwon family which made her laugh lightly. I knew Jiyong’s sister was already married but I was a little confused as to why she wasn’t trying to play matchmaker with him instead of me. She moved on to introducing me to other doctors and then was trying to get me set up on some dinner dates.

Thankfully Jiyong saw what his mother was doing and came to rescue me. He took me to the dance floor where he apologizes for his mother acting that way.

 

“It’s ok, I am surprised she isn’t trying to marry you off.”

“I have an understanding with my parents about my love life. My heart belongs to another already so they know not to try anything.”

 

I smiled as I watched a smile grace his face and saw his eyes look around the room for someone. The way they lit up with love when they landed on whoever it was made me happy, I was about to turn to see who it was when I saw Seunghyun also on the dance floor with a woman. I watched them twirl around and couldn’t hold back my laughter at how the woman was practically throwing herself on him. Jiyong saw what I was looking at and also started laughing as he led me off the dance floor. We found the guys sitting at a table talking and we sat down with them chatting about this and that, I eventually excused myself and got up to grab another drink. As I walking to the bartender I happened to bump into Woo Bin.

 

“Sofia, what brings you here?”

“A friend invited me, what about you?”

“My family donates to the society.”

“That’s very nice of your family.”

“Would you care to dance?”

 

I nodded my head and allowed him to grab my hand leading me out to the dance floor. We danced a few songs laughing and talking about our day so far. The song eventually ended and we walk out to the balcony to get some fresh air. I was laughing at a joke Woo Bin had just made when we stepped past the curtains to find Jiyong and Seunghyun outside smoking. I stopped laughing when I saw the look on Seunghyun’s face, he wasn’t happy at all but I had no idea why.

 

“Well well look who we have here, good evening Seunghyun, Jiyong.”

“What are you doing here Woo Bin?”

“I was invited of course Seunghyun.”

“I don’t know why they keep inviting you back.”

 

Seunghyun says as he throws his cigarette bud on the ground and stomps it out before walking up to Woo Bin. Jiyong also steps forward but only to grab my hand and pull me to his side.

 

“Don’t be like that Seunghyun, we are all here for the same reason.”

“I doubt that.”

“I am just here to help the society that is all, no need to get your panties in a bunch.”

“Well then drop your check at the door and leave.”

“You shouldn’t act that way, especially in front of a lady.”

 

Both guys look towards me and I raised an eyebrow, clearly there was something between the two and it wasn’t good. Woo Bin turned towards me and grabbed my hand raising it to his lips to lay a soft kiss on my knuckles.

 

“I suppose I should bid you goodnight sweet lady, I fear I am unwanted here.”

Before I could respond Seunghyun did, “You aren’t.”

“If you need anything Sofia please don’t hesitate to call.”

 

He let my hand drop before he turned on his heels and strode right back into the ball-room to leave. I turned my attention to Seunghyun as I crossed my arms.

 

“Don’t look at me like that, that man is bad news. You need to stay away from him.”

“That man owns the building I have my office in. He has been nothing but nice to me and until I am given a reason to I don’t see a reason to stay away.”

“Sofia please just listen to me.”

“Seunghyun I am a grown woman and I can handle myself.”

 

Our conversation is cut short by my phone ringing along with Jiyong’s. We both answer and Alex is on the other end.

 

“Sofia we have a problem.”

 

Jiyong gathers his men and I walk to find Alex waiting with the car ready, Alex follows Jiyong’s car to a building where they have three men tied up. These men were caught trying to steal the guns that were being shipped to my family back home along with spying on the hotel where the Kwons were setting up their casino.

Jiyong slowly walks around the men and asks them who sent them and who they were working for. They all remained silent even after Jiyong took turns punching them in the face. The men were already bloodied from the fight they had with Jiyong’s men upon capturing them. Jiyong asked again before he pulled his gun from his holster and pointing it at one of them. I figured maybe they just didn’t have the motivation to talk so I walked up to him and put my hand on his that held his gun.

 

“Jiyong why don’t you give me some time with them. Which was is the leader of the group?”

“Probably this one.” He pointed to a larger man.

“Good, please have your men tie him to the table over there.”

 

Jiyong’s men did what I asked while I had Alex retrieve my black bag from the car. Once the man is strapped down I open my bag taking out my surgical tools. I put some black medical gloves before I grab my scalpel and walk towards the man making sure he sees the knife in my hand.

 

“All you need to do is give us a name and then you can leave here.”

 

He stayed silent.

 

“Don’t be that way, this won’t be good for you or them. Just a name, one little name and that’s all.”

 

Again silence.

 

I walk over to him and use the knife to cut off the buttons to his shirt exposing his chest.

 

“Did you know that it only takes roughly 4 minutes for you to bleed out if a main artery is cut rather than the 10 to 15 minutes it would take if you are just cut deeply. There are 20 main arteries in a human body, that’s 20 places I could easily cut and watch you bleed out from if you don’t give me a name. Or I could cut you and take my time watching you die. You can avoid each if you were to just give me a name.”

 

Silence.

 

“Ok, then.”

 

I run my scalpel up and down his chest before I cut him right on his ribcage. He flinches from the pain but makes no sound and offers no name when I ask for one. I cut him again this time closer to the center of his chest. He plays the silence game for a good 10 minutes causing me to leave slice marks all over his chest. I made sure not to cut him deeply so that he wasn’t losing too much blood but he was starting to frustrate me.

I walk over to my bag and see the guys sitting down on some chairs they had found just watching me do my work. I smile and reach into my bag for a pair of tweezers, I was ready to take this to the next level. I didn’t even bother asking the man for a name before I used the tweezers to grab his nipple while I used the scalpel to cut it off causing the man to scream out. It was the first sound he made all night and I figured maybe now I would be making some lead way. I put the nipple on his forehead and ask him again for name which his response was to spit at my face. I let out sigh before doing the same thing to his other nipple causing him to cry out again. I let him cry out in pain for a little bit as I stick my finger in the blood trail and draw a snake on his chest.

 

“A name is all I need.”

“Go to hell.”

“Wow he knows how to speak! Just give me a name.”

“Fuck you bitch, you won’t get shit from me you cunt.”

I heard one of the guys jump up before I heard Jiyong, “Sit down hyung, she has this.”

 

I turn to see an angry looking Seunghyun sitting back down, it was cute how he even now he was trying to play the protector. I look to Alex who was standing by my bag, not phased at all as he has seen me do this before and knew what was coming next.

 

“Alex if you would be so kind to help me.”

 

As Alex strips the man of his pants and underwear and I bring some gauze up to his bleeding nipple wounds and apply pressure to slow his bleeding.

 

“Sir a name, please give it to me and this will all stop. I will gladly stitch up your wounds and you will be on your way. If you don’t give me a name this will only get worse.”

“Fuck you.”

“So be it.”

 

I grabbed the tools I needed before I grabbed his unsnipped member, I set everything up and looked up at him and watched a look of horror spread across his face. I asked for a name again but he only glared at me. I shake my head and tell Alex to hold him still. I grab my scissors and being the procedure of cutting the excessive skin giving him a proper snip. I light my scalpel and use it to cauterize the blood vessels. The whole time the man is screaming bloody murder and trying to escape his confinement. The man finally stops screaming and I ask for a name again but get nothing. I decide to switch things up and walk with my bloody scalpel towards the other two men tied up.

 

“Maybe you two can provide a name and earn your release?”

 

The men look at each other with terror in their eyes.

 

“One name that is all I need.”

“Please miss, mercy. We were only following orders.”

“Mercy is what I will happily give you if you give me a name.”

“I wish we could but we never got one, hyung” me motioned towards the guy tied up, “he gave us the orders.”

“Who did your hyung get his orders from?”

“We don’t know, please mercy! We were only following orders.”

“Following orders isn’t good enough, I am sorry boys but your time is up.”

 

I walked up to them and cut their throats quickly before they had another chance to talk. Their bodies slumped forward as blood spills from their throats making a small stream on the floor. I turn towards their hyung who is awake and watching me. I smile as I walk back over to him hoping that he finally will give us a name.

 

“Such a shame your dongsaengs had to go like that, don’t let their deaths be in vain. Give me a name and allow me to be your angel of mercy.”

“You are no angel of mercy, you will be the angel of death for tonight you will take my life as well.”

I bent down to his face and tilted my head trying to look as gentle as possible, “I don’t have to be the angel of death, a name will earn your release and your life.”

“Kill me, I am sick of this bastard life anyways.”

“If that is your wish so be it, may your next life be better than this.”

 

I stood and sliced his throat letting the blood spill down the table and pooling at the floor. Alex came up to me with a bottle of water and helped me take my gloves off before he poured water on my hands and arm rinsing any blood from them. I grabbed the towel he had on his shoulder and dried my hands as I walked over to the guys. They were quiet the whole time as I was working for the name and the looks on their face showed just how surprised they were.

 

“Sorry guys, I was hoping he would give up a name. Usually in a situation like this someone always gives us a name.”

Jiyong stood and cleared his throat, “This isn’t the first time you have done this.”

“Of course not silly, I am sure you have done this plenty of times.”

“Not the way you did with the….” He motioned to my knife and then looked down before covering his manhood.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression, “No this isn’t my first time doing that, I have done this many times in a professional setting and of course on these terms. I hope this didn’t bother you.”

“No not all, just my first time seeing that.”

“That’s good to hear. Now what will we do about the bodies.”

 

I turned to look towards the bodies and Alex who was pouring a sanitizing liquid over my tools. These were my first kills here and I wasn’t entirely sure how they handled this situation. Jiyong told me not to worry about it and he made a phone call for someone to clean up the mess. We agreed to meet later to discuss things and I bid them all goodnight before climbing into my car and going home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sofia**

The loud wailing of my alarm going off woke me from what I wished was a pleasant sleep but it was anything but. The whole night I kept tossing and turning wondering who the men were working for. I hadn’t even been here that long nor had the partnership with the Kwons really started, so why was there already a mess. I silenced the alarm before kicking my covers off in frustration and going to shower. Once I was out of the shower I sent Alex a text having him get the car ready as I wanted to go see Seungri to ask him about last night.

We arrived at the warehouse and Alex followed me in wanting to make sure I was safe. When we got to the bottom of the stairs we waited for the guard to unlock the doors and allow us entry. The warehouse was full of people going about their business unloading and loading up guns and ammunition. I paid them no mind as I walked right to Seungri’s office giving it a brief knock before entering. I went and sat down across from his desk while Alex stood at the door keeping an eye on things.

 

“Seungri, what happened last night? I thought you ran things pretty tight here, I didn’t expect an issue so early on in this partnership.”

“My apologies Sofia, we normally have no problems with shipments. I am just as surprised as you are about this issue. If anything, I feel embarrassed about this, I do have my men looking into this and we will let you know once anything is discovered.”

“What are you going to do about the future shipments?”

“Of course we will take extra precautions when it comes to your shipments the next time, we won’t have a repeat of last night.”

“I really hope not. I don’t want to take up any more of your time, you are a busy man after all.”

 

I stood to leave and Seungri stood reaching his hand out to shake.

 

“Sofia, I will get back to you once I find anything out.”

“You do that.”

 

I turned and walked out the door with Alex following behind me. When we got to the car I called Jiyong to see if he knew anything, especially since they were also spying on the hotel last night. He said they have no info about either issue but they are looking into. With no information coming from either of them I told Alex to make sure we have our own men watching the shipments from now on.

The drive to the office was long and I was tired, wishing I could have stayed home to rest instead of having to get into work. When we arrived at my office, Alex let me off in front as he went to go park the car and to do some rounds around the building. I walked in letting a long yawn escape my mouth, my eyes shut and hand covering my mouth kept me from seeing my visitor until I heard his deep chuckle. I stopped in my tracks and opened my eyes to see Woo Bin standing next to my door with two cups of `123coffee in his hands.

 

“Good morning, long night?”

“Good morning Woo Bin, not really. What brings you here?”

“I just wanted to apologize about last night. Seunghyun and I have some bad memories in our past, I wish you wouldn’t have had to see that.”

 

I smiled at him and took the cup of coffee he offered, happy to have some kind of caffeine rushing through my veins. I unlocked the door and held it open for him to enter, he walked in and went to sit down in front of my desk crossing his leg over the other. The way he walked was as if he glided on air, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I went to my desk taking my jacket off and hanging it up before I sat down across from him.

 

“So how is business?”

“Business is good, a little slow but after last night I am sure it will pick up.”

“You know Sofia, if you ever need any help I am here for you. My family is very well known around here and we have many connections. My family can be very useful to you.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I know things will be fine.”

“Fair enough. What are you doing for dinner tonight? I still feel a bit awful about last night, how about you let me take you to dinner to make up for it.”

 

Before I could answer my phone started ringing, I apologized and he smiled before getting up to leave. It was an older woman who had gotten my number from mama Kwon and wanted me to come see her. I hung the phone up before calling Alex to meet me out front as I grabbed my medical bag.

The drive to the patient’s house wasn’t long at all and we were shortly pulling up to a rather large home. I buzzed the door and a maid escorted me and Alex in. Alex waited outside as I was shown to a bedroom where an older woman was lying in bed. I checked her vitals and got a bit of information from her about her symptoms. She was a kind sweet woman who wasn’t very sick, just a normal cold for the season.

 

“My you are very pretty, do you happen to have a husband? A boyfriend?”

I laughed lightly, “No ma'am, I am single.”

“Splendid, see I have a son. He is a very handsome man and he is a prosecutor actually, a very good one. How would you feel about having dinner with my son?”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“Nonsense, of course you can.”

“No really, it would be unprofessional of me.”

“I won’t say anything, it’s nothing but dinner between two professionals.”

“No, really…”

“I will text you the time and place, I am sure you will have a lovely time.”

 

The older woman turned away from me ending the conversation and not allowing me to turn down her offer. I packed up my things and bowed as I left her room. I met Alex at the front door and we both walked back to the car not saying a word. I knew he could tell something was wrong with the way I threw my bag into the backseat and glared out the window. He didn’t say a word to me until after the text came in with the time and location of the dinner.

 

“Oh for fucks sake.”

“You ok, Sofia?”

“Oh peachy, just getting dragged into dinner with some son. I imagine it’s mama Kwon working her magic.”

“Do you want me to get you out of it?”

“Just take me back to the office.”

 

The rest of the day was spent on the phone with new patients and getting records set up. About an hour from when I was supposed to meet my dinner date, I had Alex run me a change of clothes instead of driving all the way home and having to come back this way. I just wanted to get this date over and done with, I didn’t want this man to think anything into this so I opted for a something business casual.

I arrived at the restaurant and exited the vehicle telling Alex I would text him if I needed anything. He would be parked nearby never wanting to leave me alone for too long. I walked in and was escorted to a table where a rather tall attractive man was sitting. He saw me being walked over and stood to pull my chair out. We introduced ourselves and he apologized to me about this, his mother was rather pushy and didn’t take rejection very easy.

 

“I don’t want you to think anything about this dinner, I am still wanting to focus on my career before I even entertain the idea of getting married. So relax and please let us just enjoy this dinner and who knows what might come of this.”

 

I thanked him and told him I felt the same way, with that out of the way we ordered some drinks and food. He really was a rather funny man sharing stories about his early years of being in law school. He told me about a couple of his rather unusual cases, such as the woman who assaulted her husband thinking he was having an affair because she found women’s clothes hidden away. It turns out he actually was just trying to surprise his wife with something handmade for their anniversary. There would never had been a case if he was conscious when the police arrived, the wife had beat him so hard that he was unconscious for a few days leaving her in jail facing charges. The case was eventually dropped but I couldn’t help but laugh, I would probably have jumped to the same conclusion if I found another woman’s clothes in my house. I shared a few funny stories from my residency such as fishing out a sex toy from a man’s bottom. This date was actually much better than I imagined it would have been. As he was pouring me some more wine I sensed I was being watched and turned in the direction I felt the eyes looking at me. Seunghyun was walking his way to me with an older woman on his arm.

_Jesus does this man ever not have a new woman on his arm?_

 

I thought to myself as he finally arrived at our table and introduced himself.

 

 

**Seunghyun**

I arrived at the restaurant with Madam Chu who wanted to talk about displaying some art at my club. It was a good business practice of mine to take potential clients out to dinner to gain their trust, she had some rather rare pieces of art in her collection and I knew it would be the perfect opportunity to swap hers out and have the originals locked away until they were to be sold. The manager was about to show us to our table when I spotted her, her laughter is what caught my attention. It was light and carefree, it called to me and I looked around searching her out. My eyes landed on her and noticed she wasn’t alone, thankfully she wasn’t with Woo Bin but it didn’t make me feel any better. They were both laughing as he poured her another glass of wine, the smile on her face went from ear to ear. The jealous beast inside me stirred to life and I envied the man sitting across from her. As we walked by her table I moved towards her instead of going right to mine.

 

“Good evening Sofia. Good evening sir, my name is Choi Seunghyun.”

“Good evening, my name is Wang Minsi Ki.”

“I hope I am not interrupting, I saw my friend here and I just wanted to stop by and say hello.”

“No, it is alright.”

“So how do you two know each other?”

“My mother is her patient, she introduced us.”

“I see, well I won’t take up anymore of your time. Please enjoy your dinner.”

“You as well Mister Choi.”

 

I grabbed Sofia’s hand lifting it to my lips before placing a kiss on her knuckles and flashing the best smile I could. I had hoped the man across from her got the message.

 

“Have a good evening Sofia.”

“You too Seunghyun.”

 

 

**Sofia**

After Seunghyun left we continued to chat for a bit as we finished our meal and drinks. I thanked him for the lovely dinner and company before we both stood and he walked me to the car. The car ride home was spent in a comfortable silence, the dinner had actually lifted my mood from earlier and I was ready to just get home and take a nice relaxing shower.

I was just getting out of the shower only in my bath robe and was drying my hair a bit when Alex called to tell me that Seunghyun’s car was pulling up. I shook my head setting my towel down and going to the kitchen to pull out some wine cups and a bottle from the chiller. I poured two glasses as I heard the doorbell go off. I opened the door allowing him to enter and handed him a glass of wine. He thanked me and I shut the door before grabbing my glass and going to sit on the couch. Seunghyun came and sat down next to me taking some sips off his wine.

 

“What brings you here Seunghyun?”

“I was just in the area, thought I would stop by.”

“Oh really, funny because I never told anyone where I lived so it would be hard to be in my area when you didn’t know where my area was.”

“You caught me, I had one of my guys follow you home. I just wanted to stop by and see how your date went.”

“A phone call would have been just as good.”

“True, but I wouldn’t have been able to see you then.”

“The date went fine, how about yours? She seemed nice, a little old but nice.”

He laughed, “That was a work dinner, the woman was someone who wanted to talk about having her art shown at the club. I take all the people I work with out to dinner to talk over things.”

“I see, quite the charmer, aren’t you?”

“Well I did charm you, didn’t I?”

“Indeed, you did.”

 

Seunghyun moved a little closer to move a piece of my hair behind my ear and let his hand rest there as he rubbed his thumb on my neck below my ear. I blushed from the look in his eyes and looked down to my cup. His hand grabbed my chin lifting my head a bit so I was looking at him as he came in closer to place his lips against mine. I closed my eyes allowing our lips to move together softly. I pulled away and smiled at him, the way he kissed me had me forgetting who I was for a brief moment.

 

“Seunghyun, I think I need to make something clear to you. I’m not here to date, I am here for business. I can’t have my emotions clogging my head, you understand, right?”

“Don’t worry about it, I am not looking to date either.”

“Good, then we are on the same page. That this,” I motioned to the space between us. “This is a no strings attached thing. Business has to come first at all times.”

“I agree, this won’t get in the way and it’s only for fun.”

 

I nodded my head in agreement before I grabbed his glass and set both of ours down on the coffee table before I grabbed his hand making him stand with me. I led the way to my bedroom before I pushed him down on the bed. He was laying back with his arms propping him up to watch me. I smiled as I undid my bathrobe letting it fall to the floor at my feet before I climbed onto the bed straddling him. I brought my lips back to his starting off slowly tasting the wine on his lips before I deepened the kiss pushing my tongue into his mouth. He fell back fully onto the bed allowing his hands to come up to my hips before going to my ass, grabbing it and using it to hold me still as he brought his hips up to reveal his erection in his pants. I sat up and started to unbutton his shirt to reveal his chest, he really was an attractive man. I let my fingers scrape down his chest earning me a hiss from him. I looked up at him to see him pulling his bottom lip in biting on it. I scooted down his body to unbutton his pants grabbing both his pants and boxers and pulling them down as he lifted his hips. Once they were on the floor with my robe, I made my way back up to his hard member which was twitching the closer I got to it. I stuck my tongue out tracing the veins from the base to the tip before I swirled my tongue around collecting the salty pre cum that was starting to pool at the tip of his dick.

 

“Don’t tease me babygirl.”

 

I grabbed him at the base and guided his dick into my mouth taking him as far back as I could allowing him to hit the very back, causing me to gag a bit before I pulled away enough to settle into a steady bobbing rhythm. He moved his hand to my hair grabbing it up and helping me set the pace to his liking, I made sure to hollow out my cheeks providing him with a good amount of pressure. When I used my tongue to play along the sides I heard him moan out my name. He was twitching and growing larger the longer I went and I knew he wouldn’t last much longer. I was about to go faster to help him reach his but he pulled me off him.

 

“I don’t plan on finishing that way. Come up here and ride me.”

 

I did as he instructed, holding him as I sunk myself down onto him letting my head fall back and moan out his name at the feeling of having him fully inside me. His hands went to my hips helping me bounce on top of him as one of my hands went to my clit using the juices escaping me to coat my fingers allowing me to slide smoothly over my clit.

 

“Fuck, you are so sexy when you play with yourself.”

 

I was close but still so far away, I let out a growl wanting my release but not being able to achieve it. Seunghyun sat up changing the position allowing himself to go deeper. My mouth fell open giving him the chance to kiss me swallowing my moans with his mouth. One hand went to my breast playing with my nipple pulling and twisting it while he went deep hitting that right spot of nerves. He pushed deeper into me with his thrusts, I dropped my head to his shoulder panting loudly and his mouth dropped down to my neck kissing and sucking on the skin below my ear. My skin broke out in goosebumps as I felt my orgasm getting closer and closer. The hand that was on my hip went around to my ass to slid between my cheeks grabbing some of the wetness and bringing it to my entrance using it to lube it up before he slowly inserted a finger into me.

 

“Oh my god!” I moaned out.

“Do you like that?”

“God yes, please don’t stop….I’m so close.”

 

The combination of his finger in my ass and his dick inside me was enough to push me over the edge. My mouth found his shoulder biting down on him to muffle my screams of pleasure as my hands went to his back clawing at him as I rode out my orgasm. I felt him thrust erratically before unloading streams of warm cum into me. I rode him a couple of more times until I felt him still, I let my head rest against him. Both of us panting trying to catch our breaths before I got up, detaching myself from him to go to the bathroom and grab some washcloths to wash our bodies off. Once we were both clean I pulled the covers back allowing him to lay back before he pulled me down into his arms.

 

“No strings, Seunghyun.”

 

I heard him mumble a reply before he rubbed his face in my hair planting a kiss on my head. I closed my eyes listening to his heartbeat as my head was laying on his chest. I never allowed any man to stay over but for Seunghyun I made an exception…I seemed to be doing that a lot for him and it scared me.

 

 

**Seunghyun**

The next morning I woke up expecting her in bed but sadly she was gone. I got up finding my clothes laying on the foot of the bed. When I was fully clothed I left the bedroom to find her at her kitchen table drinking some coffee going over what looked to be medical charts.

 

“Good morning, Sofia.”

“Good morning, did you sleep well?”

“I did thank you.”

 

I was going to ask her to go have breakfast with me but her body guard Alex walked in with some documents in his hand placing them down in front of her before leaning down and whispering in her ear.

 

“Hey I have to get going Sofia, we will chat later.”

“Oh ok, have a good day Seunghyun.”

 

I would have gone home to get some fresh clothes and a shower but Jiyong had sent me a text asking me where I was. I had forgotten all about the meeting I was supposed to have with him. I arrived at the club in record time, I walked into my office to see the guys sitting on the couches waiting for me and I apologized for my tardiness.

 

“Late night Hyung?”

“Yeah Ji.”

 

I always kept a spare suit in my office for emergencies so I went into my closet grabbing it out. I turned around facing away from the guys as I undid my shirt tossing it to the floor before I grabbed my clean one pulling it on and buttoning it up.

 

“Damn hyung, you must have had one hell of a night. Who did you go home with? Not that old lady was it?”

“Of course not.”

 

I pulled my pants off and pulled on a clean pair making sure to tuck my shirt in before I turned towards the guys taking a seat.

 

“I bet I can guess.”

 

I looked towards Seungri with an eyebrow raised.

 

“Who do we know that might be into this?” He made a reenactment of clawing at me.

“Besides you Seungri?” Jiyong replied with a smirk.

“Obviously it wasn’t me, sorry hyung but you’re not my type.”

 

The guys looked around at each other before Jiyong looked at me with a sly smile, you could see the light going off behind his eyes.

 

“It was Sofia, wasn’t it?”

“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell.”

“True, but you are no gentlemen hyung.”

 

I put my hand to my chest faking shock and hurt from Jiyong’s comment.

 

“I am surprised, you are never one to double dip.”

“I am full of surprises Jiyong.”

 

 

**Sofia**

The weeks leading up to the opening of the hotel and casino were pretty quiet. We had another shipment of guns leaving to my family and I had ordered Alex to put our men on this and to keep a close eye on things. My men reported back that they did see a few guys lurking around the area who looked as if they didn’t belong but they didn’t make any movements for the guns. Things with Seunghyun were about the same, he would stop over every now and then for some fun and often spent the night. I tried to keep a fine line drawn and to remain cold to him but he had a way of melting away everything, leaving me exposed to him. I never stayed in bed with him the next morning making sure to get out of the room before him, not giving him a chance to try and snuggle. Snuggling always would lead to some kind of emotion and I was trying to avoid that. The first week of the casino being opened was stressful to say the least. Jiyong was on edge as I was. We both wanted this to succeed for not just us but for our families, we both had something to prove with this partnership.

I was sitting down on my couch with a glass of wine watching the news not having anything to do as Seunghyun had business to attend to tonight. I had planned on calling it a night as I had gotten word that the shipment of money was on its way to the casino and they were expecting things to go smoothly. I reached for the remote to turn the TV off when Alex came rushing into the room.

 

“Sofia we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

“The shipment was hit and they need you at the hotel.”

 

I stood from the couch quickly grabbing my things and jacket before following Alex to the car. He had another car in front of his and one behind him with our men inside, I told him he was overdoing it but he didn’t even respond to me. We reached the hotel in record time and I didn’t wait for Alex to get to my door before I threw it open grabbing my bag and rushing in. One of Jiyong’s men met me and rushed me to the room where the wounded men were. None were too injured, some stab wounds and a couple of gunshots. I made quick work of them and had them patched up and on their way home. With the final man walking out I told Alex to have one of our men clean up my things before I went looking for Jiyong. One of his men told me he was in a meeting room and to wait but I pushed passed him pushing the doors open and walking straight to the table. I slammed my bloody hands down on the table ending their conversation.

 

“Care to tell my why the fuck I was called in here to fix those men and how the hell the shipment was hit yet again? What the hell is going on here Jiyong?”

“Sofia, please have a seat.”

 

I walked around the table taking a spot next to Daesung and took the rag he handed me to wipe my hands off.

 

“You don’t have to worry Sofia, none of the money was taken. We were able to kill a couple of their men but not before they got some of our guys.”

“Well that’s good to hear Jiyong but how did this even happen? I thought you had extra men on this?”

“We do and that’s why nothing was taken.”

“But we are still at a loss as to who is behind this correct?”

“That would be true.”

“Ok, well we need to figure this out soon. Who would have the most to gain from your families’ downfall?”

“A few rival families of course, but without evidence I can’t just go attacking them.”

“Then find some evidence!”

 

I pushed back from the table to get up and walk out.

 

“We will find out who did this Sofia.”

“I hope so Jiyong.”

 

Alex drove us back home and walked me inside. I stood at the kitchen counter massaging my temples, this was the last thing I needed.

 

“Here Sofia take some.”

 

I took the water bottle from his hands and the pills swallowing them down.

 

“Thanks, Alex.”

 

I waved goodnight to him before going into my room and falling onto my bed just wanting to sleep this night away. I knew things were going to be bad tomorrow and I just wanted some good sleep so I would have the energy to deal with it.

The next morning I woke up to emails and text messages from my father demanding I call him immediately. This is what I dreaded the most, hearing the disappointment in his voice. He demanded to know what had happened and what was being done to fix it. I tried my best to calm him down explaining that we had everything under control but it didn’t work the way I wanted it to. He said the one thing I didn’t want to hear, “maybe I should have sent someone else, clearly you are not ready”. His words cut through me like a knife, I had worked so hard to prove myself to him and the family. When he mentioned sending someone to replace me I tried to hold the emotions back as I assured him yet again that everything was under control. When the line went dead I slammed my phone down and grabbed the glass of water downing the remaining liquid before hurling the glass across the room listening it shatter into pieces. Alex came running into the room with his hand on his gun.

 

“Everything ok in here Sofia?”

“Everything is far from ok, dad wants to send someone else here.”

“I am sure he didn’t mean it, you know how proud he is of you.”

“Yeah that was until last night.”

 

Alex walked over to me and pulled me into a hug, rubbing my back and reminding me how amazing I was and how proud everyone is of me. I hugged him back taking in his words and hoped that what he said was true. Alex let me go so I could get ready to head into the office while he went to brief the guys on things. On the way into the office I called Jiyong to see how things were going.

 

“Things are going just grand over here, how about you?”

“Same on my end, your old man talk to you?”

“Sure did, got an earful from him after your father called. What about you?”

“Yup, woke up to a million messages demanding I call him. He isn’t happy and I don’t blame him. What are we going to do about this?”

“I have ordered an increase on the shipments, I know I already did but that’s all I can do besides switching up the days and routes.”

“Let’s hope it works. I have to go, we are pulling up to my office.”

“Ok, stay safe Sofia.”

“You too.”

 

I exited the car and was walking into the building as I was rubbing my head feeling the effects of the stress and lack of caffeine. When I turned the corner to my door I was once again greeted by Woo Bin holding two cups in his hands.

 

“Rough night?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“Coffee?”

 

I took the cup and thanked him before opening the door and going to sit down at my desk.

 

“Sofia if you ever need to talk or need help I am always here for you.”

“I know.”

“I mean it, my family has pull around here.”

“Yeah…ok.”

“This might be a bad time, but I was wondering if you are free for dinner?”

“I don’t know, I have so much to do today.”

“Let me take you to dinner and I can help you take your mind of things.”

 

The last thing I wanted to do was do another dinner date but the man was so damn persistent about this. I could feel my frustration with him growing and agreed to the dinner if only to get him to leave my damn office. Once he was gone I got a phone call for a visit and met Alex at the door. On the car ride to see my patient Woo Bin sent me a text for the time and location for dinner causing me to sigh out of frustration.

 

“Everything cool?”

“No, this man just won’t leave me be. I am having dinner with him tonight. I want you to run a full background check on him and his close acquaintances. Hell let’s throw in some past lovers as well, don’t leave any stone unturned. I need to know who I am dealing with, I want it to be thorough! I better know if he got good grades in school, if he was a generous lover, hell I better be able to know if that man shakes his dick off or wipes after he takes a leak. Something just isn’t sitting right about this man, I am missing something.”

“Sure thing Sofia.”

 

There had to be something behind his motivation for offering me his help all the time outside of just wanting to be nice. Plus how the hell did the man know when I was going to be in the office and how I liked my coffee, something was definitely off about him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Daesung**

“I am just pulling up.”

 

I ended the call as I exited my vehicle allowing the valet to park it. I was to be having dinner with some lawyer friends and figured I would be in an out before it got too late. Unfortunately, that wasn’t going to be the case as I rounded my car to see Sofia entering the restaurant. When I made it inside I saw her being escorted to a table in the far corner, who stood up to greet her was not a person I wished to have seen. The waiter showed me to my table and as I greeted my colleagues I pulled out my phone to send a quick text to Seunghyun and Jiyong.

 

 

**Seunghyun**

“I really don’t care about the price as long as it’s the original piece of art. I am only missing two pieces from the collection and no matter how much I offer the owners they won’t part with them.”

 

Mr. Park was rambling on and on about a piece that just recently made its way into Korea, he was a repeat customer of mine that really didn’t care about the prices I would charge as long as I delivered on my part. I was trying my best to keep up with him and to stay professional but sitting here was the last thing I wanted to be doing. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket noticing the vibration pattern belonged to Daesung I ignored it. If it was anything important he would call instead of texting. After about another 30 minutes went by Mr. Park was finally leaving my office. I promised to acquire his piece of art and have it ready in a week, with my frustration I may have increased the charge a bit more than I normally would have. I thanked him for his business and saw him to the door. Just as I was walking back to my desk Jiyong came strolling in looking annoyed.

 

“Hyung, why aren’t you answering your message?”

“What message?”

“The one Daesung sent you.”

“Oh that, I figured it wasn’t important since he didn’t call.”

I sat in my chair pulling out my phone to see his message.

Daesung: hyung, Sofia is here with Woo Bin eating!

“Well fuck, we better get over there.”

 

I stood up grabbing my jacket before following Jiyong out to his car. The ride to the restaurant wouldn’t have been this long but for some reason traffic was backed up only feeding into my agitation knowing she was sitting down with that man. I hated that he was her landlord, if she wanted a place to run her office from I would gladly buy her any building she wanted! I knew she had money so I wasn’t sure why she was even renting an office when she could buy one herself.

When we finally pulled up I didn’t even wait for Jiyong to put the car in park before I had the door open and rushing up the stairs. The waiter showed me to Daesung’s table and thankfully all his lawyer buddies were gone. I sat down and he pointed to where Sofia was.

 

“What’s happened so far?”

“Nothing really, they ordered some food and drinks and have been talking.”

 

I wanted to run over there and pull her from the table but held myself back knowing it would only make matters worse. I sent a silent thanks to the heavens that she was dressed rather lovely but not in a way that would make this look like a date. From what I could see she had a black suit on with a dark blue silk blouse on under her jacket. Her attire screamed business while the look on her face said she was annoyed. I sat there watching them chat and she would try and fain her enjoyment and would laugh lightly to things he was saying. Suddenly his facial expression became more serious and he put his head closer to her to say something while his hand slowly made its way to hers. She laughed and the moved the hand he was trying to touch to grab her wine and took a sip. He retracted his hand and grabbed his glass as well taking a drink.

I watched them for another 20 minutes of him talking to her and her nodding her head and adding her input here and there. He was doing most of the talking and she looked like this was the last place she wanted to be. Suddenly her hand went into her jacket and pulled out her phone before typing something and putting it back in her pocket. She said something to Woo Bin that didn’t make him look happy before she stood up, he stood as well and grabbed onto her arm. I had enough and shot from my chair ignoring Daesung and Jiyong behind me as I made my way towards them.

 

 

**Sofia**

I looked back at Woo Bin with an eyebrow raised as I pulled my arm from his grasp. Something must have caught his attention as he turned his gaze to something else, I turned my head to see what he was looking at just as Seunghyun reached our table.

 

“Sofia is everything ok?”

“Everything is fine Seunghyun, so go back to where you came from.”

 

Woo Bin answered for me as he stood closer to me and put his arm around my waist. Seunghyun’s eyes went to Woo Bin’s hand that held onto me and looked as if he was seconds away from permanently removing the arm from Woo Bin’s body. I removed Woo Bin’s hand and stepped away from him.

 

“Everything is fine, I was just leaving.”

 

I turned to Woo Bin and thanked him for the meal and he reminded me to think about his offer.

 

“I will.”

 

I walked past Seunghyun to get to my car and just as I was exiting the restaurant I felt someone grasp onto my arm stopping me and spinning me back around.

 

“What the hell was that? What offer?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Sofia what were you doing with him?”

 

I was about to answer him when I saw Alex running up to my side while he undid his jacket and laid his hand on the hilt of his gun.

 

“Mr. Choi please remove your hand from Miss Rossi’s arm.”

 

Seunghyun glared at Alex and then dropped his hand.

 

“Sofia just tell me what you were doing here? Why were you eating with him?”

“Don’t worry about what I am doing, and again this is none of your business. I am a big girl and can handle myself. Excuse me, I was just leaving.”

 

 

I turned from Seunghyun and followed Alex to the car. Seunghyun had no right to just butt into my business and start demanding answers. I knew he was concerned, it just had nothing to do with him and I felt a little bad for being so rude to him. Alex drove us home and walked me inside before I sat down on the couch exhausted from this horrible night. Alex’s text saved me from a dreadful night and hopefully would shine some light on Woo Bin.

 

 

“Woo Bin knows who I am.”

“I figured he did with all his offers of help.”

“Tell me what you have Alex.”

“He is the eldest son to the Kim family, they are actually a rival family to the Kwons.”

“That would explain the dislike from Seunghyun. What do they have their hands in?”

“They own some hotel chains where they run their drugs from. The family also runs some underground gambling clubs. They are in bed with some politicians which help them stay out of trouble if anything happens with their drugs or the gambling rings they run. While most of the families here are aligned with the Kwons and stay above par the Kims are from old blood and deal in the seedier parts of Korea and they only look out for themselves. I don’t like the way things sound.”

“So it’s easy to say that the Kims are not too happy with the Kwons dabbling into the hotel and gambling world.”

“I would say that’s safe to assume. What was his offer?”

“He wants us to join with his family and he would help us. It really was just a basic offer but he is stupid to think I would take him up on it. Our family has two things we don’t mess with, drugs and prostitution.”

 

 

I shook my head and laughed, the way Woo Bin was handling this was really childish. It just showed how much of a boy he was in this world.

 

 

“A little boy playing in the man’s world.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing Alex, just talking to myself. Thank you for getting me this information. Say do you know of any gyms around here? I haven’t been sparring since I got here and I feel like now is a good time to get back to it.”

“No I don’t, try calling Jiyong.”

 

 

I grabbed my phone and sent Jiyong a text asking if he knew of any places but he didn’t answer. I decided to text Seungri and he responded right away giving me the address to the gym he goes to telling me he was heading there right now. I had Alex get the car ready as I changed into some gym clothes before we set off for the gym.

The gym was like any other gym you would walk into, lots of men lifting weights and hitting the bags. When I walked in I saw Seungri waiting near the ring, when he smiled he waved me over.

 

 

“I would never have guessed you boxed.”

“Oh yeah, my dad took me to the gym when I was little and had me sparring when I started school. He wanted to make sure that his little girl knew how to take care of herself. With everything going on I figured now is a good time to get back in.”

 

 

Seungri helped me get taped up before I put my gloves on. We entered the ring and started off slow just doing some jabs here and there.

 

 

“Heard about dinner tonight, you ok?”

“Yeah I am fine.”

“So how are things with Seunghyun?”

“Things are fine.”

“You know he likes you.”

 

 

I stopped and looked at him, “I told him the same thing I am about to tell you. I am not here to date, I am here for business and business needs to come first. He needs to watch himself and make sure he keeps his emotions in check.”

We went back to sparring leaving the conversation about Seunghyun and Woo Bin alone. I didn’t want to admit it to myself but I did find myself thinking of Seunghyun too much and I looked forward to his visits. Had I been here for another reason other than the family business then I would love to see where things could go. Even if the idea of getting myself attached to another man scared me, I would be willing to make an exception for Seunghyun. We eventually called it a night and I had Alex drive me back home. I fell into my bed thoroughly spent from sparring with Seungri.

The next day I was feeling pretty sore from the night of sparring and still annoyed with the whole Woo Bin and Seunghyun issue. The universe must have a grudge against me as well because all the house calls I was getting were from old stuck up house wives calling for a runny nose or a cough. By the end of the day I just wanted to let loose but going to the gym again wasn’t my idea of a fun night two days in a row. On the car ride home I told Alex to get us a VIP spot at one of the clubs in the area, a night out drinking and dancing might just be what I needed. I opted for a tight black skirt and an emerald silk shirt, making my eyes nice and smoky. I was just putting on my heels when Alex walked in with his dark jeans and white button up shirt, I had to hand it to him the man could dress. Had we not grown up together and had I not seen him as a brother I would have made a pass at him. Walking out to the car I yet again noticed an extra car instead of just mine.

 

 

“Alex more men? It’s not really necessary.”

“Sofia with everything going on and knowing about Woo Bin, extra men are worth it. Your mother and father would have my head if I let anything happen to you. Plus it’s just two extra men.”

 

 

I huffed and got in the car not wanting to fight with him, besides have an extra man meant we wouldn’t need to call for a designated driver since I planned on Alex drinking with me tonight. We arrived at the club and was shown right to our little booth in the VIP area, Alex letting me slide in first before he slid in next to me with our men standing just on each side of the booth. I felt like I was back in high school needing guards. I ordered us some shots and told Alex he had no choice but to drink with me tonight. The music was booming through the club and after the second shot slowly warming my body as it went down, I was starting to feel a little more comfortable. Having Alex there to laugh and joke about the old days put me at ease and things didn’t seem that bad.

 

 

 

**Seunghyun**

The guys wanted a night to unwind so Jiyong had suggest we hit one of the clubs, I was all for it needing a few drinks after the shit with Woo Bin and Sofia. The girl made me go crazy not just with lust but with actual frustration with how she wouldn’t listen to me about things. Walking into the club I knew tonight was going to be interesting, the music was loud and deep with people crammed together on the dance floor moving in waves. Jiyong hadn’t booked a VIP section for us and decided to just wing it, they were walking us up to the VIP area when I heard her laughter. Even in a full club with loud music and deep base my ears could pick out that sound. The girl hadn’t even been in my life long and my body was already so in tune with her and had her sounds engraved into my head.

 

 

“Hey hyung, isn’t that Sofia?”

“Sure is Youngbae.”

 

 

I said and smiled at I took her in, her head thrown back and eyes shut as she laughed at something her bodyguard said. I then noticed the two extra men standing on either side of their booth, extra men probably ordered in because of the problems going on and because of Woo Bin. My smile dropped from my face and irritation set back in. We walked up to her table and I cleared my throat.

 

 

“For a person who says they can handle themselves you sure do have a lot of backup.”

 

 

She scoffed at my comment rolling her eyes before she scooted out of the booth excusing herself to go dance. Telling her bodyguard to stay when he tried to follow her to the floor. I watched her walk away swaying her hips in the tight little skirt she had on.

 

 

“Would you guys like to sit with us?”

 

 

My attention broken by her bodyguard’s question. Jiyong nodded his head and we all scooted in the booth and ordered more drinks. I took a shot before my attention returned to Sofia who was currently out dance in the group of people but not too deeply into the people that her guards would lose sight of her.

 

 

“Hyung you got it bad.”

“Seungri let him be.”

 

 

I didn’t even bother with Seungri’s light teasing but grateful for Jiyong stepping in. The guys have been giving me shit since day one about Sofia and I was getting rather sick of it.

 

 

“You know she really can handle herself, she doesn’t necessarily need these guards but I ordered them.”

 

 

I looked back at her bodyguard with an eyebrow raised before Seungri added his two sense.

 

 

“Alex has a point, she really can. I sparred with her last night and the girl has some moves and has one hell of a punch.”

 

 

I rolled my eyes, a punch won’t do her any good if her opponent is bigger and has a gun. I turned my attention back to Sofia who was smiling and moving her body to the beat, I couldn’t help but smile a little at how happy she looked.

 

 

“Hyung maybe you should let this one go.”

I turned to look at Seungri, “Don’t worry about me.”

 

 

Alex the bodyguard grabbed for another shot downing it and then turned to me.

 

 

“If you really like her then I wish you the best of luck and may the odds be ever be in your favor.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Sofia hasn’t dated in years and won’t.”

“Care to explain why?”

“She had a boyfriend once, the love of her life or was. They dated for three years and the family adored him, her old man was thrilled to have a man around the house and one that loved his daughter. I would walk in on her and her mom talking about the dream wedding she wanted and she just looked so happy in love. I would have done anything to keep that look on her face but it was all for nothing. We knew a proposal was coming soon and while one of our guys were out they saw him shopping for what they thought was a ring for Sofia but it was just a ring for the woman he had stashed away. The boy never loved Sofia and had only wanted to marry her for the power it would give him and of course the money. There were rumors that he had actually ordered a hit on her for after they were married, to make it look like an accident happened on the honeymoon. Sofia was devastated when she found out and her old man wanted the boys head on a silver platter but she told him to not even bother. She wanted a clean break and didn’t want the boy’s death on her hands. Her old man was pissed and us guys who had grown up around her were also pissed. She doesn’t know it but we paid that little shit a visit after their split. Broke both his legs and made sure he got the message to not show his face around Sofia ever again. Last time I checked he had moved across the country to get as far away as possible from her. So she has given up on dating, she says she wants to concentrate on the family business but really it’s just because she can’t get over the betrayal and won’t be able to trust another man.”

 

 

I turned and looked around for Sofia, what Alex said made a lot of sense and I could see why she wouldn’t want to date. Had I been around I would have done exactly the same thing Alex had, men like that were vile and didn’t deserve to be on this planet. Not being able to sit there any longer I stood up and made my way towards her.

 

 

 

**Sofia**

The whole time I was on the dance floor I made sure to stay near the outside of the dance floor so that the men could see me. Plus it allowed me to keep an eye on Seunghyun, he was talking with Alex for a long time and his facial expressions were changing back and forth from happy to angry. I watched him stand and make his way to me, I met him halfway and looked up to his face. My heart was racing just being this close to him and I wanted nothing more than to touch him, but I needed to keep myself in check.

 

 

“I don’t do emotions.”

“I know.”

“Then what are you doing Seunghyun?”

“Proving that not all guys are the same.”

“Alex has a big mouth when he is drinking.”

 

 

Seunghyun smiled before he pulled me into his arms resting his hands on my hip as we swayed to the beat. I smiled up at him and allowed my body to get lost in the music and took in his warmth and scent. I closed my eyes as I breathed him in, I use to think the scent was some kind of cologne but it turned out to be all him. He smelt of something deep and woodsy, earthy if you would but at the same time fresh like after a spring shower. We spent a few more songs on the dance floor before we made our way back to the booth where we finish off the rest of the drinks with the guys. Alex had eventually slipped out of the booth making his way to the dance floor where he was attached by the lips with some cute girl in a dress. We all shared some laughs at the way he was practically having sex with her on the dance floor. Alex was always on watch so he deserved this night to himself. The guys slowly started heading off with Youngbae wanting to go see his girlfriend and Daesung wanting to go home and rest. Seungri stood helping a rather sleepy drunk Jiyong to his feet and bid us good night. I told the guards to let Seungri know I was going and rode with Seunghyun back to my condo much to the dislike of the guards, they wanted to drive us but Seunghyun had already ordered his driver. We got in the backseat of his car and I scooted closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder allowing my eyes to close only wanting to rest them for a moment but I ended up falling asleep. Seunghyun shook me awake and helped me out of the car and into the house. He helped me undress as I was too tired and drunk to properly do it, he tucked me into bed before going into the kitchen and getting us both a bottle of water. He turned the lights off and pulled the blankets back sliding in and pulling me to his chest. As much as I wanted to enjoy his body tonight, all the stress over things and the booze was too much and I fell back to sleep listening to the steady rhythm of his heart beat.

I rolled over the next morning surprised to find the bed already empty. I slowly sat up and reached over to grab the water bottle and took a few long drinks before I stood from the bed and made my way out of the room. I had figured Seunghyun had gone home early but I was happily surprised to see him putting full plates of food on the table for us.

 

 

“Good morning beautiful.”

“I doubt I look beautiful, I didn’t even take my makeup off last night. I am sure I look like a mess right now.”

He came up to give me a kiss on the nose, “You could be covered in dirt and you would still be beautiful in my eyes.”

 

 

I swatted his shoulder before sitting down and enjoying the delicious breakfast he made for us. After we ate I was doing the dishes as he sat at the counter watching me.

 

 

“Sofia, if you don’t have anything planned for the day would you like to go see an art exhibit with me?”

“You want me to go with you while you work?”

“No this is for my own enjoyment, before I even started in this line of business I already had a healthy love of art. So what do you say?”

“Sure, I would love to.”

 

 

As I was getting dressed, Seunghyun had walked out to his car where he had a spare pair of clothes in the trunk. I was dressed casually in a soft blue dress and a white cardigan, I had hoped I wasn’t dressed to casual but thankfully Seunghyun exited the bathroom in a pair of black slacks and a white button up shirt. The exhibit he took us to was of some paintings that were here on a tour from Switzerland. It was a mixture of abstract paintings and impressionism paintings. Walking around and hearing Seunghyun get excited about the paintings was something I found myself wanting to experience again. Hearing the joy in his voices as he described what he thought the painter was feeling at the time made me want to take him to Italy and France if only to hear him talk more about the paintings. He had a passion for art and it was different than what he would talk about when it came to work. Just as we were leaving we happened to run directly into Woo Bin.

 

 

“Sofia, what a pleasant surprise.”

“Good afternoon Woo Bin.”

“Have you had a chance to think more on my offer?”

“I did and I will have to decline at this point.”

“Such a shame, it’s a free standing offer so if you change your mind let me know. I would hate to see anything happen.”

 

 

He didn’t say anything more as he bowed and walked into the building leaving me there with a not happy Seunghyun. I didn’t say anything as I walked back to his car, once we had pulled off Seunghyun took the opportunity to question me.

 

 

“What is he talking about? What offer?”

“Nothing really, he made a rather vague offer about our family joining together. We don’t deal in the same things as he does, plus it’s not a good business practice to join with a rival family.”

“I know what you are going to say, but please Sofia can you stay away from him.”

 

 

I didn’t bother responding to him since he already knew what I was going to say, instead I grabbed his hand giving him a light squeeze and moved to give him a quick kiss the cheek before sitting back in my seat.

 

 

 

**Seungri**

Things were going too smoothly lately. It’s been weeks without any kind of problem and while I normally would be happy to not have any issues I just didn’t feel right about something. A new shipment of cash was set to come into the casino and while I normally wouldn’t bother with overseeing this myself I decided to this time. I was supposed to meet up with Jiyong and Youngbae for dinner and called to tell them I would be a little late.

I was standing outside talking with a few of the extra guards just as the truck was pulling up. We had men stationed on the roof who said it was all clear so the back doors of the truck opened and as the money was being wheeled out chatter over the radio followed by gunshots could be heard. The guards on the ground grabbed for their guns as did I when the bullets started to fly by. Men dressed in all black started to pool into the small area of the loading dock. I jumped behind one of the dumpsters with my men as we took turns exchange gunfire with the enemy. I was peeking behind the dumpster and saw a few men walking into the back of the truck.

 

 

“Shit they are going for the money, clear me a way!”

 

 

The guards stood trying to draw enough gunfire to them as I made a run for the truck. Once in the truck the men put their guns away as it was no use in such close proximity. Three men would have been a piece of cake but it proved to be rather tricky when they pulled out their knives, I had nothing but my gun on me. I was trying my best to block the slashes and jabs from them but they were too close in the truck and I was too slow to dodge their move, the burning sensation took over my body as the knife entered my stomach. My hands went to my stomach trying to stop the blood from leaving my body as the men pushed me aside taking the money from the truck. The guards that were still alive rushed into the truck lifting me up and dragging me into the hotel and to an office. I could hear them yelling into the phone informing someone of the situation before the world became fuzzy and then dark.

 

 

 

**Sofia**

My phone ringing woke me up and I sat up on the couch reaching for the loud vibrating object.

 

 

“Hello?”

“Sofia get to the hotel, Seungri is hurt bad!”

 

 

The call ended and I rang Alex yelled for him to get the car ready as I grabbed my medical bag and threw on a jacket and my shoes. Alex was just pulling up as I was running out the door, I jumped in the car and told him to get me to the hotel as fast as possible and to run the lights if he has to. When I got to the hotel I was met by a guard who rushed me to where Seungri was. I entered the room to find Jiyong hunched over Seungri applying pressure to his stomach with a rag stained red with his blood. Jiyong looked up at me with terror in his eyes and screamed at me to fix him. I tossed my jacket to the floor and took what I needed from my bag. Seungri was pale and unconscious from the blood loss. I worked quickly to stop the bleeding and did my best to make sure nothing was injured, the wound wasn’t too deep and the placement wasn’t near any vital organs. Once I had things under control I looked up at Jiyong who had tears in his eyes while he looked down at the unconscious man.

 

 

“Jiyong, he needs blood, he lost too much.”

“Take mine, we are the same type.”

 

 

I prepped him to draw his blood and had him sit down next to Seungri. I kept a close eye on both of their vitals and once I had Seungri’s vitals improving I cut off Jiyong and told him to have some things brought to Seungri’s house. Youngbae entered with some men and they helped move Seungri to a stretcher where they wheeled him out and Youngbae helped carry Jiyong out to his car. Alex and I followed Jiyong and Youngbae to Seungri’s house, I wanted to make sure he was stable before I talked with Jiyong. I followed the men as they carried Seungri into his room with Jiyong following slowly behind me. Everything I had asked for was already waiting for us and I hooked him up to an IV as Jiyong sat down on the bed to hold his hand. One of the many perks of being part of the mafia was that nothing was hard to acquire including medical devices. Even with the stab wound placement I needed to double check to make sure no organs were hit, I went to the corner and grabbed the portable ultrasound machine and went back to the unconscious Seungri lifting his shirt and placing the wand on his stomach moving it around. Once I had checked him thoroughly and knew he was stable I left Jiyong alone to have a moment with Seungri.

When I walked out to the living room I noticed Daesung and Seunghyun had also showed up as I was getting Seungri situated. Seunghyun walked over to me and took me in his arms before offering me a water bottle and helping me to the couch. It was so late and the adrenaline from the phone call and seeing Seungri bleeding out was finally wearing off. I sat down on the couch and took a drink from the bottle before resting my head on Seunghyun’s arm. No one said a word and just sat there, everyone’s faces matching with the same look of concern. Jiyong eventually made it out of the room before he sat down next to Youngbae, he looked more exhausted and worried than any of us.

 

 

“He will be ok Jiyong.”

“Thank you Sofia, and I am sorry for yelling like that.”

“Don’t even worry about it. Just tell me what happened?”

“That idiot’s spidey senses were going off and he called me earlier saying he was going to be late to dinner because he wanted to oversee the money shipment. The guys said that they were ambushed as soon as the truck doors opened and he rushed in to keep them from taking the money but was stabbed. We were called right away and that’s when Youngbae called you.”

“Do you think it’s the same people as before?”

“Yeah.”

“Who could it be?”

 

 

We all sat there looking at each other as they thought of who it could be, of course Seunghyun didn’t even miss the chance to voice his opinion.

 

 

“Maybe it was Woo Bin, he made an offer to Sofia.”

“Sofia what offer?”

“It was nothing really Jiyong, he wanted my family to cut ties with yours and to partner with the Kims. He didn’t get too into detail about what he wanted us to partner over but he did mention drugs which our family doesn’t deal with.”

“His family is always at the top of our suspect list but unless we have proof I can’t just go around attacking them. We will have to just wait and see, but I will have some men keep an eye on him.”

 

 

After checking on Seungri one last time Alex and I left heading back home. I couldn’t believe that Woo Bin would have done something like this just because I didn’t take him up on his offer, but then again men have done more childish things when they didn’t get their way.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sofia**

With everything going on I decided that it would be a good time to take the day off. Things needed to be figured out and I already had a patient who need my full attention. Alex drove me to Seungri’s house where there were guards at the gate, in the yard, and at the main door to the house, Jiyong was not messing around with keeping the injured Seungri safe. I walked in and didn’t see anyone in the living room so I made my way to the master bedroom, I knocked lightly on the door not wanting to wake him if he was sleeping before I walked in. Seungri was indeed sleeping while Jiyong was laying against the headboard with this laptop in his lap.

 

“Hey, how are you holding up?” I whispered as I slowly walked up to the bed.

“I’m good, just trying to do some work.”

“And my patient, how did he do last night?”

“He hasn’t really woken up, he stirred a little and made some grunting noises but didn’t actually wake up.”

“I see.”

 

Jiyong watched me with hawk eyes as checked on Seungri’s vitals marking them down on my tablet and then checked the IV drip I had going from last night. His vitals were all stable and he had no fever. I pushed his shirt up to expose his wound and slowly undressed it, I cleaned it while checking to make sure it was healing and didn’t appear to have any signs of infection. I dressed the wound and lowered the shirt before pulling his blanket back up. I was surprised when Seungri’s hand shot up to hold on to mine.

 

“You know your hands are extremely cold.”

“Sorry about that, comes with the job.”

 

Seungri let out a little chuck before he winced in pain and put his hand on his stomach. Jiyong tossed his laptop to the side and scooted closer to him with a panicked look in his eyes.

 

“Seungri you need to be careful, no fast movements or any kind of actions that might put a strain on your stomach. Now that I have you awake, how is your pain? On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being no pain to 10 being the worst pain ever, what would you rate it?”

“I would say it’s about a 5 but was a 7 when I laughed.”

“Ok, now outside of the discomfort from the wound itself do you feel any pain anywhere else or as if your body is hot in one place?”

“No, I feel fine besides you know being stabbed.”

 

I smiled, happy to see him still joking around even though he was injured and in pain. As I was just going over his options for pain meds Daesung entered the room. He went to Seungri’s side as I talked with Jiyong about the pain meds Seungri was going to get and how much is enough for him. I left the meds on the side of the table before giving Seungri a small hug. I waited out in the living room for the other two guys, things needed to be discussed. Daesung came out first followed by Jiyong and sat on the couch with me. Jiyong looked like he needed sleep but Daesung looked like he was all business.

 

“Jiyong the bodies of the enemy were handled last night, we searched them for any information but didn’t find anything. They didn’t have any tattoos either that would give away who they belonged to. Now as for the men from our guards, their bodies were moved to cremation house. I am just waiting on your orders as to how you want to compensate the families.”

“Handle it like we normally would, pay for the funeral and give the family the severance pay. Please offer them my deepest sympathies for their loss and let them know if they need anything to please come see us.”

 

Daesung stood and bowed before walking out to go handle his part of this nightmare. Jiyong slouched in the couch letting his head fall back and a loud sigh escape his lips. He looked as if he has aged so much overnight but a good night’s rest might help him.

 

“Jiyong, if you need some rest I can always come sit with Seungri. You won’t be any use to him if you are exhausted.”

“Thank you for the offer but I will be fine. After you leave I promise to sleep while he is sleeping.”

“You better or I will come back here and put you to sleep myself. I am not opposed to giving you a little shot to help you sleep.”

“I promise.”

“I don’t want to bring up business right now but I need to know what’s going to be done about the money that was taken last night.”

 

Jiyong put his hands to his face growling into them with all the frustration from last night. I hated seeing him like this and I hated to bring this up but I knew my dad was going to find out soon and that’s a phone call I did not want to go into blind. I needed to know what was going going on so I could be prepared on how to handle it.

 

“I will put some of my money in to replace what was stolen but I can’t do the whole amount.”

“I can see if I could put an advance of the next shipment.”

“I would appreciate that Sofia.”

“We need to find out who did this, my dad is not going to be happy at all.”

“I know how you feel, I haven’t talked to mine yet.”

 

Here we both sat children of the mob, we grew up in the dark and deadly world. We both were no stranger to death and wouldn’t bat an eye if we came face to face with the grim reaper, but no matter what we were still a son and daughter needing to prove ourselves. Needing to make our parents proud with everything we did, yet with the events of last night proud is anything but what they would feel. I stood and walked over to Jiyong placing my hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze, his hand came up to rest on mine. We both knew how each other felt with this nightmare, out of all the guys Jiyong is the one I felt connected to on a level that none of them would feel.

 

 

**Seunghyun**

“Where is he! I demand to see the owner!”

 

I stood from my desk when I heard the loud shrills coming from the other side of my office door. I grabbed my gun putting it in my back holster before throwing my jacket on and walking out of my office. There was an older woman shoving my employees and causing a scene in front of the customers. I slowly walked up to her while looking around the room making sure there wasn’t anything funny going on.

 

“Excuse me ma’am how can I help you?”

“Who do you think you are selling me a fake?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about because I don’t sell counterfeit art here. If you would please follow me back to my office we can calmly discuss your concerns.”

 

I held my hand out to lead the way back to the office while I apologized to the other customers who had gathered to see what the commotion was about. I shut the office door once she was sitting down and offered her something to drink but she declined still looking very angry.

 

“Now if you could please explain to me why you are so upset?”

“I bought a painting from you last month, you said it was an original piece and one of a kind! You lied to me, that painting was a fake! In fact, from what I hear I am not the only one who has that painting! Who do you think you are to sell me a fake!”

“Mam, I swear I do not sell fakes here. Who did you hear this from? Every piece of work I sell here comes with a letter of authenticity to prove that it’s an original. Who is this person telling you your painting is a fake because ma’am they would be the ones lying to you not me.”

“I demand a refund of what I paid or I will have my lawyer sue you and I will make sure to tell everyone you are nothing but a con man ripping people off! You won’t ever work in this field again and I will make sure you go to jail!”

 

The woman stood grabbing her purse and stormed out of my office slamming the door. I cursed lowly before I walked over to my desk to call Daesung.

 

“Hyung, what’s wrong?”

“We have a problem, a woman just came in here raising hell about a piece of art I sold her. Someone told her it was a fake and now she is demanding a refund or she will get her lawyer involved. I will send you her information, we need to silence her and figure out who told her this. She isn’t someone who would have figured this out on her own, someone had to have told her.”

“I will get right on this hyung don’t worry.”

 

I hung up the phone feeling myself getting more frustrated. Everyone was on high alert after Seungri being injured. Something didn’t seem right with this and I needed to figure it out. I needed to take my mind off of this and thought maybe hearing from Sofia might make me feel better so I sent her a text.

 

Seunghyun: How’s your day going?

Sofia: Could be better, how about you?

Seunghyun: I had a problem walk in but we are working on it. Are you going to Seungri’s later?

Sofia: Yes, I want to check his dressings again and check on Jiyong. Jiyong didn’t look so good this morning.

Seunghyun: Want me to pick you up after I get off of work?

Sofia: No it’s ok, Alex will drive me.

Seunghyun: well if you feel like changing your mind just let me know. I miss you.

Sofia: I will

 

This girl was a tough cookie to get her to bring down her walls. I wanted to show her that she doesn’t have to fear a relationship but she was making it rather difficult. I spent the rest of the night before I went off to Seungri’s going over things and making sure the orders being delivered had extra security on them. We didn’t need any more problems than what we already have.

 

 

**Sofia**

I arrived a little earlier than when the rest of the guys were supposed to show up, the guards were all still stationed in the same spot as before. I entered the house to find the lights off but saw a bit of light coming from under the master bedroom door. I knocked lightly again and opened the door to find the guys right where I left them, but this time Jiyong was curled up under a blanket sleeping while Seungri was sitting up against some pillows with a laptop in his hand. I waved and walked quietly to his side of the bed, Jiyong needed to sleep so I tried to be as quiet as possible. I checked his vitals and recorded them before checking his wound. Everything looked to be healing well so I took his IV out and had him point to the number so I could record his pain. His pain was lower this time and I quietly asked him if he was taking his pain meds and he nodded his head. I checked the bottle to see a few pills missing but not enough to show he was needing them as much as I thought. I gave him a smile and hug before quietly walking out the door. I went in the living room and turned on a small lamp and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before going to sit on the couch. I must have dozed off a bit because I was suddenly being poked in the arm by a happy looking Daesung.

 

“Good evening sleeping beauty, sorry to wake you but I figured you would want to be awake for this.”

I sat up stretching my arms above my head and letting out a yawn, “I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep. Is Seunghyun here yet?”

“Yeah he is just parking his car, how is Seungri doing?”

“He is doing fine, he looks to be healing well. Jiyong is sleeping, we should let him sleep.”

 

Seunghyun walked in then and walked over to Daesung and gave him a pat on the back before falling onto the couch next to me letting his head fall onto my shoulder. He nuzzled his head making little baby sounds, I couldn’t help but laugh and bring my hand up to his hair brushing it to the side.

 

“Aww, did our big boy have a hard day?”

 

He didn’t say anything but nodded his head before making more noises that a toddler would have and put his arm around my body holding me close to him. This was a side I had yet to see of him but while some people would say it was childish I found it rather cute. Daesung burst out laughing loudly watching his hyung act like a little kid. I tried to shoosh him because Jiyong was sleeping but it was too late and we could hear some talking coming from the master bedroom.

 

“Sorry nuna, I forgot.”

“Well I suppose he should be awake for this as well.”

 

We were still waiting on Youngbae to get here and he showed up just in time as Jiyong was slowly helping a still very wounded Seungri out of the room. Youngbae quickly went to the other side of Seungri and helped him walk to the couch, helping him ease back into a comfortable position.

 

“Seungri what are you doing? You need to be resting, you shouldn’t be up walking more than necessary.”

“I can’t stay in that room forever, I need to get out of there. I will be fine, it’s not like I am running a marathon.”

“Still, you need to be careful.”

“I will.”

 

I turned my attention to a very sleepy looking Jiyong who was mid yawn.

 

“How are you feeling, did you get enough sleep?”

“I went right to bed after you left and just now woke up. Don’t worry I will go back to bed after we get this meeting over with.”

“You better or I will make good on what I said earlier.”

 

He laughed before nodding his head and sitting straight up in his chair.

 

“I want everyone to tell me what’s been going on since last night, I don’t want any piece left out. Hyung how are things on your end?”

“A rather upset woman came in raising hell about a piece of art I sold her, she is determined it’s a fake and well it is but she wouldn’t have known that on her own. Daesung is handling it since she threatened a lawsuit.”

Jiyong nodded before turning his attention to Daesung, “How are things on your end?”

“They are going fine, the families have all been taken care of and they appreciate everything your family has done for theirs. They have no ill will towards you but do ask that you catch whoever did this. As for the woman causing issues for Seunghyun I am still looking into it.”

“Youngbae, how are things at the hotel?”

“They are fine, we increased security in the hotel and we will be stationing more men on the roofs in the area during any shipments. But Jiyong, all the problems going on lately don’t you find it odd that they are all happening to close to each other? It feels like they are connected.”

“Yeah I agree, they do feel connected. I want everyone to be on alert for anything suspicious, if you hear or see anything I want to hear about it.”

 

None of the guys wanted to stay too late knowing both Jiyong and Seungri needed their rest. Youngbae and Daesung got up helping Seungri back to the bed. I stood and grabbed my bag before walking to the door but was stopped by Seunghyun who came up behind me hugging me close to him and nuzzling his face in my neck.

 

“Seunghyun is everything ok?”

“Yeah everything is fine, just let me hold you for a second.”

 

I dropped my bag to the ground and turned around in his arms putting my hands around his neck and standing on my tippy toes. I knew the scare with Seungri probably put him on edge along with everything else going on, he probably was just craving some kind of comfort and I was more than happy to give it to him. I didn’t want to admit it but I was needing some comfort as well. I kissed his cheek before pulling away and grabbing my bag heading towards the car. Once I got home I dropped onto my bed falling right to sleep.

I must have been more stressed then I thought because I normally would have woken up earlier in the day but Alex was basically shaking me awake this morning.

 

“Sofia wake the hell up!”

“What the hell Alex.”

“Your dad has been calling every 5 minutes and even has been calling my phone. It’s after 10, I have him on hold for a video message.”

“Shit.”

 

I threw the covers back and ran to the bathroom to splash some water on my face before running my fingers through my hair and pulling it into a bun. I took some deep breaths and left the bathroom rushing to the living room where Alex was standing holding my tablet. I took it from him before taking the video call.

 

“Sofia I have been trying to reach you for hours, where have you been.”

“Sorry.”

“I heard about what happened the other night, you weren’t there were you?”

“No I was not.”

“I am sorry to hear about the boy, is he doing ok?”

“Yes he is, I have been keeping a close eye on his injury.”

“They are lucky to have you there.”

“Thank you.”

 

For a brief moment, I thought that maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad phone call, but the hopeful thoughts were short lived.

 

“I am very disappointed to hear about this, why didn’t you call me the minute it happened.”

“I didn’t want to call you until I knew everything that had happened.”

“That is fine, but it’s been over 24 hours since the incident and I still had to hear this from someone else.”

“I know and I am sorry.”

“I think it’s time to bring you home and send someone else.”

“NO!” I shouted into the phone and watched my father raise his eyebrow at me raising my voice.

“Watch that pitch young lady.”

“I can handle this, you can’t just take me back right now. I will have this all under control soon enough and will put whoever did this in the ground.”

“Had you been back in the states while this happened I would have all the faith in the world you could deliver on this, but you’re not here you are there. You haven’t been there long enough to know everything and I doubt that little Kwon boy knows what he is doing.”

“I have this! Give me some time to get this under control, if I feel that I can’t do it I will admit my defeat and I will come home.”

“I don’t want you to have to admit your defeat, I want to have faith in you. You are going to be the one to lead this family when your mother and I are gone. If you can’t do this then maybe it’s time I start looking around for a son in law.”

 

I didn’t even try to mask my dislike for his statement, I was hurt by his words. I had been working to make sure I would never have to give my power over to a man. I closed my eyes and counted to three before opening them.

 

“I can understand your concern father, but I won’t let it get to that point. I will find out who did this and I will personally end this.”

“I hope so, oh and your mother sends her love.”

 

I nodded and ended the call before dropping my tablet to the table. Alex walked over taking a seat next to me.

 

“Alex, put a tail on that woman from the art club.”

“Will do, but Sofia I want to increase the security around you.”

“For the last time no, I don’t want to hear you say that again.”

 

Alex was about to say something just as my phone went off and I reached for it to see a text from Woo Bin asking me to dinner to talk.

 

“Alex remind me what Woo Bin is in?”

“Drugs, gambling, politics, and dealing with some hotels but word is he is wanting to expand.”

“I want to think he only wants me to join him to stick it to the Kwons but there has to be more to it.”

“Be careful with him, based on the background check he has been known to get his way. Not just in business but also in his personal life. I have been warned that he isn’t one to say no to, he takes enjoyment in watching people suffer from the sidelines. After interviewing the women it’s safe to say he operates the same way in his work and in his personal life, he tries to charm his way in and then makes his move but if he is denied he wastes no time in making the people suffer. The women said that he has never laid a hand on them, instead he would attack those they cared about making them watch their loved ones suffer or even die. But as long as they went along with what he wants he would spoil them buying lavish things and taking them on dream vacations. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have any more to do with him.”

“If he is looking into buying up property to expand his hotel business then maybe the reason he needs me is to get the financial backing to do what he wants.”

“That could be true but we won’t know for sure because you won’t be talking to him anymore will you?”

“God Alex you are starting to sound like Seunghyun.”

“Well the man makes sense now, before I thought it was maybe just jealousy but now things make sense.”

 

I rolled my eyes as I looked at his text, I needed to know if Woo Bin was behind this. I quickly typed out a reply agreeing to his dinner date. He responded quickly with a place and time to meet him and I told Alex when to be ready. I called to check on Seungri and Jiyong before answering emails from patients. I tried to keep my mind off the dinner tonight so that I would go into it without being stressed, but something at the back of my head kept screaming at me to cancel it and not go. I pushed that bit out of my head because I needed to do this, I needed proof on if Woo Bin was behind all this. Figuring out my outfit for tonight was a way to distract myself, I didn’t want to go looking too professional but at the same time I didn’t want to go in there looking too comfortable or send him the wrong message. I decided on royal blue dress and a black blazer, normally I would have paired the dress with a garter that I could hide a knife or two in plus a gun holster. With Woo Bin being the person he was I figured a gun holster might be too much and just stuck with a small knife.

The time eventually came and Alex the whole way to the restaurant was trying to talk me out of going and even threatened to call Seunghyun. I just rolled my eyes and ignored him, I knew he was just worried but it’s not like he could do much in a crowded restaurant. When we pulled up Alex waited for the valet as I walked in and was stopped by two men who I assumed were with Woo Bin. They patted me down but didn’t get the knife I had on my inner thigh. They escorted me the rest of the way to the restaurant and it was then I realized I may have made a mistake. The place was completely empty except for Woo Bin and his guards. I felt the prickles of anxiety start to move slowly about my body as I tried to scan the room without giving it away. There were men at every entry point and even though I couldn’t see it I knew they were armed. When we reached the table Woo Bin stood and took my hand lifting it to his lips and kissed it before pulling out my chair.

 

“Sofia, I am so happy you took me up on my invitation, and may I say you look absolutely ravishing tonight.”

“Thank you, you look handsome yourself.”

“Why thank you, I really was starting to wonder about you as I haven’t seen you around your office lately. Is everything ok?”

“Yes everything is fine, I just needed some time to myself.”

“I can understand it’s not easy being a part of this life, especially when you are on your own in a foreign place. But things could be easier if you allowed me to help you.”

“And how would you help me? I have all the help I need with the Kwons.”

Woo Bin scoffed and rolled his eyes, “The Kwons are only causing you problems. They won’t make good on their end of your partnership just mark my words. Let them go and come to me, we can achieve so much together.”

“Like your hotel business?”

“I see someone did some homework, but yes my hotel business. I do need a financial partner on this endeavor and I feel like you would be the perfect one. This would be beneficial for both of us and it doesn’t always have to be about business.”

He slowly moved his hand towards mine taking it and holding it in both his while he grinned at me, “I am a generous man not only in business but in personal matters, I only need a chance to prove it.”

 

I pulled my hand away while trying not to show my disgust for him, I once thought the man was charming and thought we could be friends. I no longer saw him like that, now I saw him for who he truly was, a low life slime ball.

 

“While I appreciate the offer but it would be in poor taste if I ended things with the Kwons and moved on to their rivals.”

“You don’t even need to worry about that, I would handle that for you. Like I said the Kwons will only cause you more problems than they already have. Come to me and join me, I offer not only good business but so much more, with our families joined together we would be unstoppable! You must be getting a lot of pressure from home with all the issues you are running into. Allow me to alleviate some of that pressure, the promise of a husband who is no stranger to this life might make your father a little happier.”

 

I couldn’t hold back my annoyance and anger any longer. I allowed the mask to drop briefly showing him my feelings while I clenched the napkin on the table. He knew he struck a nerve by the little smirk he gave me, I wanted to slap that smirk right off his face but held myself together.

 

“I do thank you for the offer and I appreciate everything you are promising but I would not feel comfortable cutting ties and ending a partnership I am already involved in. If there is nothing more to discuss I should be leaving.”

 

I stood up from the table and turned to leave when he stood and walked in front of me taking my hand.

 

“Sofia the offer will be good for 48 hours, you have until then to come to me.”

 

With that he kissed my hand and had one of his men escort me out. I calmly walked to the door where Alex stood outside looking pissed because they wouldn’t allow him entry.

 

“Damn it Sofia, I knew this was a bad idea!”

“Let’s just go home.”

 

When we arrived I slowly made my way to my door feeling as if my legs were going to give out on me. After the dinner I was even more sure that Woo Bin was behind this but still didn’t have what I needed to prove it. When I reached my door I was met with a very pissed off looking Seunghyun.

 

“What the hell Sofia!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Alex called me and told me about your stupid plan, are you fucking crazy!”

“Move aside and let me unlock the door.”

 

I unlocked the door and walked in with him following behind me. I took my jacket off throwing it on a chair before making my way to my bedroom needing to take my dress off and find something relaxing. I was trying to undo my zipper on the back of my dress but couldn’t get it with how shaky my hands were. I heard Seunghyun sigh before I felt his hands pushing mine away and undoing it for me.

 

“Thank you.”

“Look at you, your hands are shaking so much you can’t even do this. Do you realize how worried I was when Alex called me? I wanted to rush right over to him and bust my way in to get you out of there.”

 

I shimmed the dress off and grabbed my long t-shirt out of the drawer pulling it on over my head. I turned around to face him and tried to give him a big smile but failed and I just looked down towards my leg before I undid the garter placing it and the knife on my dresser.

 

“At least you had some kind of protection, but a knife would have done nothing for you.”

“I know. What do you want me to say? Yeah, I was fucking stupid and I made a mistake! The second I walked in there and noticed I was alone with him and his guards I knew I fucked up big time! But what do you want me to do about it, it’s over and done with!”

 

I was trying to stay calm but my emotions were starting to take over and by the time I was done I was yelling in his face.

 

“You could have gotten yourself hurt or killed in there!”

“I know that and I am sorry, how many more times do you want me to say that? It was a stupid plan but I made it out of there alive and I didn’t let him see the fear in my eyes. I wanted to run out of there right away with how scared I was. I was alone and didn’t have Alex with me and I was out numbered, there are you happy! I admit it, that situation scarred me because I wouldn’t have been able to handle it on my own!”

 

The anger inside me fueled by my embarrassment and fear allowed the dam of hot wet tears to start falling down my face. I was scared and at that point I needed Alex or Seunghyun with me, all their promises of protection were what I needed but my stupid ego had me walking into that restaurant alone and ill equipped to handle what I was met with.

At the sight of my tears Seunghyun grabbed me pulling me into him and I wrapped my arms around his body letting the tears fall onto his chest dampening his shirt as I clawed at his back needed as much comfort as possible. One hand was in my hair caressing it while the other was rubbing my back trying to calm me.

 

“Don’t cry, you made it out of there and you got back here safely. I’m sorry for yelling, I didn’t mean to make you cry. But god you had me so worried, all I could think of was how Seungri was hurt and I kept picturing that it was you and not him. I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt, you have no idea how much you mean to me.”

 

He pulled back enough to look at my face before one of his hands came to brush the tears from my eyes.

 

“Please don’t ever do something like that again, I can’t lose you.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do mean it.”

 

I didn’t get a chance to say anything else as his lips were already on mine silencing me. I closed my eyes allowing him to take control over everything. I wanted to feel anything besides the fear I had running through me. He slowly lead us to the bed where he helped me scoot far enough up that my head was on the pillows. He only broke the kiss long enough to get my shirt over my head and to pull my panties down before coming back to claim my lips. With his body only slightly covering mine he had enough room to trail his hand from my breast down to my core where he slightly teased my entrance with his finger. He slowly caressed my slit feeling the wetness start to seep its way out before he took a finger and pushed its way in. I moaned into his mouth at the sensation he was causing and felt him smile into my lips. When I was wet enough he pushed another digit in and started to pump them in and out making sure to hit that sweet spot while his thumb made slow circles around my clit. I could feel the pleasure building up in my stomach and I began to meet his fingers on each reentry. His pressure on my clit hardened and I broke the kiss to throw my head back knowing it was only a matter of seconds before that pleasure bloomed throughout my body.

 

“Don’t stop….I’m so close.”

 

Seunghyun dropped his head to my chest taking a nipple in his mouth sucking on it before he bit down sending me spiraling out control with pleasure. I clenched down squeezing his fingers as my hips bucked on their own. When I was finally still he pulled his fingers from me and sucked them clean.

 

“You taste divine.”

“You have too many clothes on.”

“That I do.”

 

I sat up and helped him undress allowing his member to be free of its confinement. I was moving to get on my knees in hopes to taste him as well but he stopped me.

 

“As much as I want your sweet lips around me, I need to be inside you more.”

 

He laid me back down before coming to rest above me with my legs on either side of him and his member at my entrance. He claimed my lips once again as he slowly slid inside me filling me up until he couldn’t go any further. My legs went around him trying to keep him close as my hands went into his hair while we kissed. When we broke to allow us both to breath he began to slowly rock into me. I gazed up into his eyes and watched as they sparkled with what I thought could have been love but I knew it wasn’t possible. One of his hands went to my ass to hold onto it as he began to pick up his pace both of us starting to pant and moan, the hands I had in his hair slowly made their way down his arm leaving angry red marks from the trail my nails made. His eyes shut as he let out a growl mixed with a hiss. While he was still inside me he moved so he was sitting on his legs allowing for a different angle of penetration, both of his hands on my hips lifting them lightly as he drilled into me. I felt that warm sensation slowly building up inside again and knew he was close by how his movements were becoming more erratic. I trailed one of my hands to my breast to knead it and tug on my nipple hoping to help myself cum.

 

“Fuck you look sexy when you play with yourself. Keep doing that baby I am so close.”

“Me too.”

 

I tugged hard on my nipple and pulled it causing myself to let loose and cum. Like a domino effect my orgasm tightening around him brought on his own and he let out a growl as his hold tightened on my hips and he came undone inside.

Seunghyun fell forward hunching over me gasping for air as beads of sweat slowly dripped from his face. I couldn’t help but reach my hand up and brush some of the sweaty hair from his eyes which made him look down at me with such a loving gaze that I had to look away.

 

“Don’t look away.”

“We should clean up, it’s getting late.”

 

Seunghyun got off me getting up from the bed to go to my bathroom and grab a wet towel coming back to help me clean off. As I was putting my shirt back on Seunghyun put his boxers on and went into the kitchen coming back with some water and shutting off the light drenching the room in darkness. I crawled into bed and felt the dip in the bed just before being pulled to him so I could rest my head on his chest.

 

“You don’t have to be scared baby, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I know.”

“That goes for me too, I won’t hurt you.”

“Good night Seunghyun.”

“Good night Sofia.”

 

I closed my eyes and listened to his heartbeat and let the rise of his chest lull me to sleep as I had hoped what he said was true, that he wouldn’t hurt me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sofia**

Rolling over in my bed I expected to find Seunghyun still sleeping soundly but my hand only found a cold empty spot. I sat up on the bed looking around the room not seeing any signs of him being there, I reached over to grab my phone before standing and stretching my arms out. Yawning as I walked out of my room I stopped in my tracks when I saw Seunghyun standing in my kitchen with my apron on cooking at my stove. I didn’t expect him to still be here let alone cooking. I walked over to the kitchen counter taking a seat and pouring myself a glass of water. Seunghyun turned around with plates of food setting one in front of me.

 

“I didn’t expect you to still be here, I thought you left.”

“Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, I figured a nice healthy breakfast would be in order after last night.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know I didn’t have to but I wanted to.”

“What did you make for me this time?”

“Today I made you a vegetable omelette.”

 

I smiled up at him before taking a small bite of my food. He stood there with his head resting on his hand watching me eat it, I knew he was waiting for feedback. To mess with him I slowly chewed my food in my mouth making sure my face went from blank to puzzled to horrified. I watched him start to panic a little and I held back the laugh that was trying to bubble up.

 

“Is it that bad? The guys always say my omelettes are the best they have had.”

 

The hand holding his head fell to the counter and he looked down as he traced the little designs in the granite looking rather upset. I stretched out taking my hand to lift his face so I could give him a light kiss before sitting back in my chair and smiling at his confused face.

 

“The omelette is delicious, I was just messing with you.”

He narrowed his eyes as he let out a little chuckle, “Well now you don’t get to try the amazing cinnamon rolls I was planning to make.”

“I guess that is something I will have to live with.”

“Alex was here earlier, I asked him to clear your schedule today.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Well I did and he thinks you need a day away from everything. So after you eat I want you to go get washed up because you are all mine today.”

 

I didn’t bother trying to fight him on it because part of me really did just want a day to be normal for once. Not have to worry about the shit storm that is going on with this partnership. A day to forget that I am the heir to the Rossi family and eventually this will all fall on my shoulder. I just wanted to be a normal girl for once, I wanted to just get out and enjoy the day with the man I liked. After I finished eating my breakfast I went to go get washed up feeling the little butterflies floating around in my belly over not knowing what he had planned for us today. I haven’t felt this way since back then, not wanting to sour the mood I pushed all the negative thoughts down that the past memories brought up. Instead, I was going to focus on today and not worry about the past or the family business.

When I was dressed I grabbed my phone and small gun, placing the gun in my holster that sat at the back of my pants. Even if I wanted to forget who I was I still had to be safe. Checking myself once more in the mirror I turn and walk out of my room. Seunghyun was sitting on the couch with his leg crossed over the other scrolling through his phone. I don’t know how he was able to get a fresh set of clothes but there he was sitting in a pair of dark jeans and wearing a black sweater. The man made my heart flutter every time I caught sight of him, I reached my hand up resting it over where my heart was trying to calm myself down. Seunghyun must have felt my eyes on him because he turned his head to see me standing at my door, he smiled so warmly at me before he stood up from the couch.

 

“Are you all set?”

 

I nodded my head and he held his hand out for me. I felt my face heat with the blush that I was sure was showing as I walked up to him taking his hand. We walked out and to his car, I was rather surprised that Alex wasn’t standing there with a few other cars with more men. After last night I wouldn’t put it past him to have me swamped with extra security. Seunghyun opened the car door for me and I slipped in before he softly shut the door. Once we were on the road I finally asked him where we were going.

 

“It’s a surprise.”

 

I laughed and watched the buildings pass by as he drove us to the mystery destination. It didn’t take too long before we pulled up to a small building that looked to be a part coffee shop and part art studio. Seunghyun parked the car before getting out and opening the door for me.

 

“Are we getting something to drink?”

“Nope, I figured you needed something more hands on to get your mind off of things. A friend of mine owns this building, I called him this morning and he said he had a small couples class today.”

“Ok? So what are we doing then?”

 

Seunghyun grabbed my hand with his and led me into the building. Inside the part where we entered there were small pottery pieces lining the wall on display varying from different sizes. We continued to the storefront towards the back which was set up with a few pottery wheels and supplies. There were only three other couples here and they were already getting things set up at their station. Seunghyun walked up to a man with an apron on and introduced us.

 

“Hyung, allow me to introduce you to Sofia Rossi.”

“Well hello, Miss Rossi.”

 

The man reached out to shake my hand, he was very gentle and had a kind look on his face.

 

“Please call me Sofia.”

“Sofia, my name is Lee Min Ho, but please call me Min Ho. Now if you two will take your spot at station 2 we can get the class started.”

 

Seunghyun helped me grab an apron before we made our way to the station that already had supplies on it. Min Ho started his class introductions as soon as we were set up. Today he was going to teach us how to make either a traditional teacup or a vase. Seunghyun had opted to make a teacup while I opted to make a vase. The class was laid back with couples laughing and sharing stories. It was nice to see how loving everyone was, the men there doted on their partners making them laugh and helping them when they needed it. Seunghyun wasn’t any different and was very much in his element with making pottery, with how skilled he was I doubted this was his first time here. All too soon the class was over and we were told we could pick up our pottery pieces in a couple of days. By the time we left the art studio, it was late in the day, I had completely lost track of time with how much fun we were having.

 

“How do you feel about getting an early dinner?”

“That sounds good since we skipped lunch.”

 

Seunghyun drove us to a place that he swore had the best pasta in the area. The atmosphere of the restaurant was peaceful, as it was still pretty early for the main dinner rush to be there. We were seated quickly. Seunghyun suggested his favorite dish which we both ordered and he also ordered a bottle of wine to go along with the meal. The night was spent chatting over the meal and taking a few breaks from our conversation to move about the dance floor a few times. We were so caught up in our own little world neither of us noticed the small flashes coming from somewhere in the restaurant. The time got late and eventually Seunghyun brought me home, I asked him if he wanted to come up but he declined my offer. He saw me yawning the whole way home and said that we could use a good night sleep and if he came up neither of us would be sleeping. I chuckled a little but knew he was right, I gave him a kiss and thanked him for the lovely night before going in.

The next day I had received a summons from old man Kwon to come dine with his family. Jiyong didn’t say anything when I called him to ask about the summons so I figured things weren’t too chaotic. After work, I went home to shower and change out of my clothes before heading over to the Kwons. When I arrived mama Kwon ushered me right into the dining room, as dinner was just about to be served. I sat next to mama Kwon as Jiyong sat next to father, the food was amazing as always and mama Kwon was not at a loss for words as usual.

 

“Oh, Sofia I have been hearing nothing but good news from everyone. They all say how professional and kind you are. I hear you even went on a blind date with one of their sons, he said you were so sweet and very respectable. Some of the other moms have been talking about maybe setting you up with some other blind dates.”

 

I looked at mama Kwon while I was chewing my food, I did my best to keep the look of annoyance, off my face. I smiled and nodded as I chewed my food and then looked at old man Kwon when he began to speak, not thinking he would play into this too.

 

“Sofia will make a lovely daughter in law. Whatever family she marries into will be truly blessed and lucky to have such an accomplished woman part of it.”

 

As an old man, Kwon spoke he looked at me and then moved his eyes to Jiyong by the time he finished. All Jiyong did was roll his eyes at his father’s comments before he too added into this.

 

“I agree with both of you, in fact, a little birdy told me that the Chois will probably be said, lucky family.”

 

I dropped my fork on my plate with my eyes bugging out of my head at his comment. Just as I was about to retort his comment mama Kwon clapped happily before placing her hand on my arm.

 

“Oh my that is such good news! You and Seunghyun make a lovely couple, your babies would be so tall and beautiful with a mixture of both of you. Oh, I need to call Madam Choi.”

“Oh please don’t, it’s nothing like that. Jiyong is only teasing me, there is no marriage talk.”

“Well I won’t say anything to her, but I do hope that when there is some talk you will come to me. With your mother so far away, feel free to come to me for anything.”

 

We chatted about small things for the rest of dinner before old man Kwon asked for me and Jiyong to accompany him to his study. Jiyong and I sat back in the same spots as before across from his father who sat behind his desk.

 

“How is Seungri doing?

“He is doing fine, he is back to work now even though we told him it was too soon. I am sure he would have turned out differently if it wasn’t for Sofia’s skills. She is very talented and we are lucky to have her here.”

 

His dad nodded his head happy to hear of the outcome before turning our attention to business.

 

“Now from my understanding, we have lost a substantial amount of money when we were hit that day. Has there been any news about who it could possibly be?”

“No father, we are still unsure of who it would be.”

 

Kim Woo Bin flashed in my head and his offer rang through my ears, the more I thought on it the more it felt like he was the person behind all of this but without any kind of hard evidence, I didn’t want to say anything. I didn’t want to start a war when there didn’t need to be one. Old man Kwon sat back in his chair letting his hand play with the beard he was growing out as he hummed lost in his thought. Jiyong sat there silent as did I, we both watched the elder waiting for some kind of comment.

 

“Well I have already talked with your father Sofia, we have agreed to worry about the cash at a later time and he is sending more over along with more men. I want the both of you to be on alert for any little bit of information you might find. We need to find out who is behind this and put it to a stop if this is to succeed. If the two of you have nothing else to add to this then you are free to go.”

 

Jiyong and I stood then bowed to his father before leaving the room. We walked to our cars and chatted a bit about the issue, both agreeing to make sure to share everything that might come up. Jiyong said he would call me later but he had to hurry back to Seungri’s to make sure he was ok after being at work today. I waved at him as he walked away, the two of them had such a strong bond. Alex took me back home and I informed him of the incoming addition to the men we have here already, he wasn’t too happy about it because we will need to acquire more housing for them. Once I got home I got cleaned up before going to bed. I laid there tossing and turning trying to think of anything that would either finger Woo Bin as the culprit or clear his name.

When I woke the next morning I checked my schedule to see I was pretty open until later in the day so I decided to have Alex swing by the pottery place to pick up our pieces. After picking them up I had Alex run me by the art club in hopes to catch Seunghyun and deliver his piece to him. I was in luck and found the art club not too busy and he was sitting in his office just typing away on his computer.

 

“Sofia what are you doing here?”

 

I walked up to him putting his pottery on the desk before dipping my head to give him a little kiss on his lips.

 

“I thought I would bring you your piece since I was free this morning. I hope I am not interrupting anything.”

 

Seunghyun pushed away from his desk before grabbing my arm and pulling me down into his lap, he wrapped his arms around my body holding me close to him before capturing my lips with his. He didn’t try to deepen the kiss but just kissed me longer then I had him. He pulled away breaking our connection before one of his hands came up to move a piece of my hair behind my ear. The way he looked at me made my heart flutter and I couldn’t help but break eye contact and look down at my hand that was playing with a button on his jacket.

 

“Why do you do that? Why do you always look down when I am looking at you?”

“I don’t mean to, but you’re kind of intense but in a good way. You just make me happy and I can’t help but look away.”

“I told you before and I will say this again, I won’t hurt you, baby. You only need to give me a chance.”

I looked up at him and smiled, “I know.”

“Have you had lunch yet?”

 

I shook my head.

 

“Then let me buy you some lunch.”

 

I got up off his lap and he held onto my hand as we walked out of the art club and down the street to a little family-owned business. The food was amazing and by the way, he was talking to the owners it was safe to assume he was here often to be on such familiar terms with them. It was nice to see him like this, he was making my heart and mind quarrel more and more these days. My heart was already letting him in much to my mind’s dislike, my heart said one thing and my head said another. It was a constant battle and I just didn’t want to be made a fool of again, I didn’t want to go through that pain all over again. After lunch, we walked back to the art club and said our goodbyes outside. I was just turning away when he caught my hand and pulled me into his chest before dipping his head down and capturing my lips once again. The way he kissed me with such longing was quickly becoming my favorite thing. He pulled away and told me to call him later and thanked me for the delivery before walking back into his art club and me entering the vehicle and having Alex drive me to work.

I only had one person on my schedule for today and it was a son from another family who was under the Kwons. When I arrived at a modest home I was brought right to the room of the little boy to find him lying in bed with his overly pregnant mother who was reading him a book. I knocked on the open door lightly before walking over to the other side of the bed not wanting to make the mother move.

 

“Hello there, I am doctor Rossi. I heard you aren’t feeling very good, could you tell me what’s wrong?”

 

The little boy explained that he has been coughing a lot while he feels too tired to even play with his toys. He also said that his head has been hurting and has the sniffles. After I checked his vitals I asked the mother a few basic questions I deemed him to just have a sinus cold and that the mucus from his runny nose had just formed some congestion in his chest and that they shouldn’t be too worried. I suggest some basic things the mother could do at home to help make him comfortable and that if she feels he has gotten worse after a few days to just call me back. I packed up my bags and was getting ready to leave when the mother stopped me and offered me some tea as she had something she wanted to ask me. She showed me to a table and had a maid bring us some tea.

 

“I hope I don’t make you uncomfortable but I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“I was not born into this lifestyle, I met my husband and fell in love. His family only supported our marriage because of how happy we were together. Now that I have a son and another child on the way I am just starting to worry. How was it growing up a child in this life?”

 

I was a little thrown back by her question, I had assumed it was in regard to her child’s illness. I sat there twirling the little spoon in my teacup trying to think of a way to answer her.

 

“Well when I think about how my friends grew up compared to me I feel my childhood was probably a little more extravagant but at the same time a little stricter. I wasn’t allowed out much alone and always had one of my father’s men with me. Even when I left for college I thought I was alone but turns out I had my father’s men following me. I never wanted for much, my father spoiled me very much growing up. Yet at the same time, he made sure I learned how to appreciate everything I had as so many other kids don’t get even a small percentage of what I had. I am set to inherit my family’s businesses and will be the head of my family when my father steps down. Compared to other families who also pass down businesses such as hotels and shopping stores, this type of business and lifestyle is more stressful. I have so much to learn and I am constantly trying to prove myself to my family. All I can say is that show your children every day how much you love them. There will be days where business has to come first but don’t ever let your kids grow up thinking they come second to the family business. Teach them how to be humble and not to take anything for granted.”

“Thank you so much for answering my question, I hope I didn’t offend you.”

“No, not at all.”

“Well I don’t want to keep you any longer, I am sure you have other patients to see.”

 

I stood and helped her to her feet and just as she was about to take a step forward her hands reached for her stomach and she let out a groan of pain just as the liquid leaked down her leg signalling her water breaking. I called the maid to help me bring her to her room. Once she was situated in her bed I had the maid call the midwife. I stayed there helping her breath through the contractions until the midwife arrived. I was about to take my leave when the woman latched onto my arm and begged me to stay with her as her sister who was supposed to be here was out of town. So there I sat beside a strange woman holding her hand as the midwife moved around the room getting things ready to welcome the new addition to the world. It was another two hours of moaning and groaning through her contractions. Her hand held a death grip on mine and I thought briefly that a woman in labor is stronger than any man in combat. Eventually, the time came to start pushing. The midwife instructed me to get behind the woman and assist her with staying on the count with her pushes. Tears were streaming down her red blotchy face as she cried out in pain.

 

“I can’t do this, this is too much!”

“You can do this, you’re almost there. Keep going and you will soon hold your baby in your arms.”

 

I kept encouraging her through the pushes and wiped the tears from her eyes along with the sweat that was forming on her face. A few more pushes and tiny little baby wails filled the room which brought tears to my own eyes. The midwife brought the new baby to her mother’s chest and laid her down as she wiped the baby down before clamping the cord and cutting it. The mother held her new baby and whispered words too softly that I couldn’t understand. The midwife took the baby for a second to record the weight and height before bringing the now bundled up baby to the mother.

 

“Congratulations, you have a healthy baby girl.”

 

The midwife helped me out from behind the mom and we helped her move up the bed so she was sitting against the headboard. The door then burst open with an older man rushing to the woman’s side with tears in his eyes. I moved back to stand next to the midwife as the husband went about fussing over his wife and new baby. The scene in front of me of the loving husband kissing and thanking his wife for such a precious gift had me wondering if this was possible for me. I shook the thought from my head, maybe if I wasn’t to inherit everything I could have this but it wasn’t in my future. My marriage will end up being one of business and not love.

As Alex drove me back home I received a phone call from Youngbae who invited me out with the rest of the guys. Being in a good mood I accepted the offer and ran home quickly to change before having Alex drop me off at the club where the guys were. Alex, as usual, insisted I have security with me, so he had two men inside the club along with himself who stood just outside of the booth where the guys were. When I arrived at the booth I saw everyone was there including Seungri.

 

“Seungri what are you doing here?”

“What can’t I come out Sofia?”

Both Jiyoung and I answered together, “No you can’t!”

“I am getting better and I need to be out in the world again, I would go crazy if I only ever went to work and home.”

“Seungri it’s not like you have a boring office job, your job alone is stressful and you shouldn’t be putting more strain on your body.”

“I will be fine, look I am only drinking water.”

 

I rolled my eyes but gave up on the fight, I knew it was a losing battle as he was already here so there wasn’t much to be done about it. I took a seat and we all started talking about random stuff as we threw back drinks and laughing at Seungri’s lame attempt at jokes. The music was filling the room and the liquor inside me had me needing to stretch my legs on the dance floor. Youngbae must have felt the same way because we both found our way to the dance floor moving our bodies to the rhythm of the music. Youngbae was a really good dancer and we were laughing as we enjoyed the music. My eyes were moving around the dance floor when I spotted Seunghyun dancing with another girl. I laughed and pointed towards the two which caused Youngbae to laugh as well. I was perfectly fine with him dancing with another woman until I saw her move her hands around his neck to try and pull him down for a kiss. I left Youngbae where we were dancing and marched right up to the girl pulling her off of Seunghyun causing him to stutter out a surprised “What the fuck.”

 

“Listen here little girl, you don’t ever think of touching him again.”

“Who do you think you are a bitch, I can do whatever I want.”

“Yes you can but except when it comes to him.”

 

I moved closer to Seunghyun getting in between the two of them.

 

“Now get lost before I make you regret ever laying your hands on him, he belongs to me.”

“I don’t see your name on him and he was enjoying our little dance.”

 

She got closer trying to get around me so she could touch his arm. I glared at her hand as I reached my hand behind my back to feel the cold steel of the knife I hid under my shirt. Seunghyun must have seen my hand movement because his hands came around me holding me close and making me unable to move my hand out.

 

“You heard her! Thanks for the dance but you can get lost now. My baby doesn’t like to share.”

 

The girl turned on her heel and stormed off the dance floor and Seunghyun turned me to face him.

 

“Someone got a little jealous.”

“It was the alcohol, don’t think too much of it.”

“You know it’s completely ok for you to admit you like me and the thought of another girl with me makes you crazy.”

 

I move to pull out of his hold but he just holds me still so I can’t move, I look up at him and he has this cocky little grin on his face. I laugh and roll my eyes at him which only made his smile bigger.

 

“Fine, I like you but you already know that.”

“That I did, now how about admitting that you don’t want me with any other girl.”

“I don’t.”

“Because you want me to yourself.”

“I do.”

“Then you have me.”

 

He let me go only long enough for his hands to come up and hold onto my face as he smashed his lips against mine kissing me with such passion that he made my whole body feel as if it was on fire. He pulled away from the kiss to set his forehead against mine as I tried to catch my breath.

 

“You know this means I am yours and you are mine.”

“I know, just as long as you know that if you break my heart I will break your legs.”

 

Seunghyun chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and led me back up to the booth where all the guys were sitting. I moved into the booth followed by Seunghyun who grabbed his glass before handing me mine.

 

“I would like to make a toast.”

 

I looked at him with a questioning glance not sure what he was trying to toast to.

 

“Hyung what’s the occasion?” Daesung asked from across the table.

“Well I have officially made Sofia here my girl, she is off the market gentlemen.”

 

My mouth dropped open as he raised his glass along with the rest of the guys and clinked them together as they all hooted and congratulated him as if he just won some award. Jiyong who sat on the other side of me dipped his head down so I could hear him over the noise.

 

“I called it, you’re doomed now. Expect a phone call from my mom and madam Choi about setting a date.”

 

I spit the liquid out from my mouth in the most unladylike way possible before opening and shutting my mouth multiple times at what he said.

 

“Jiyong what did you say to her?” Seungri who sat on the other side of Jiyong asked.

“I just told her that the wedding plans will be in full force once hyung’s mom finds out, my mom was already trying to get a head start on it the other day.”

“That’s not true, I mean not fully. We just became an official couple today, so it’s not like we are rushing to the altar.” I tried to say in order to rein in the crazy talk, but Seungri just shook his head.

“Yeah if this was normal relationship sure, but not in our lifestyle. You’re an unmarried woman who is set to inherit your family. Plus you are a doctor who has become pretty big in our community. You are a prime candidate for marriage and I bet if your mom was here she would be on the same wavelength as our moms. It’s hard to find marriage prospects in our lifestyle so it’s a prize to find one like yourself. Just be prepared for the aftermath once his mom finds out.”

 

I put my glass down and instead grabbed the shots that were poured and downed a couple, all this marriage talk was too much. Seunghyun sensing my panic pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear for me not to worry. I relaxed into his embrace and all the conversation about marriage died off and was replaced with more interesting things such as Daesung’s love for Legos and how he finally acquired a rare set that he had been looking for. Even with my extra security, no one noticed yet again the flashing lights coming from somewhere in the room. It would have just been brushed off as the flickering lights of the dance floor.

The following morning I woke up and it felt just like any other morning. I made a light breakfast and answered some emails before checking my schedule. I didn’t have much to go on this morning so I figured I would spend the morning in my office going over some paperwork that was piling up. I sat at my office where I go about my business with Alex sitting in the room going over his own business. Around lunchtime, Alex had received a phone call that required his direct attention so he left me at the office under strict orders to not leave until he came back as my other guards were back at the base getting the new guys situated. About an hour after Alex left I received a text from Woo-bin.

 

> _KWB: Is your lack of communication your answer?_
> 
> _Sofia: Sorry, things have been busy._
> 
> _KWB: I just wanted to double check that your silence was your answer._
> 
> _Sofia: I would never make my silence an answer, I would tell you right out just as I am about to do. My answer is no._
> 
> _KWB: Such a shame._

**Youngbae**

I should have known something was going to happen. Things have been too quiet lately since the last time we were hit and no one had any idea of who it was. Even with the extra men patrolling the area we were still left open someplace, whether it was an inside job or not I do not know. I was in a back room going over some documents when I heard the gunshots and screams. It was too early in the day for the place to be busy so we thankfully had that on our side. I grabbed my guns and told the guards to get out as many people as possible as we followed the gunshots. Inside the main room were 8 guys with guns fighting off our guards, there were some injured people on the ground that needed to be evacuated. I instructed the guards to shoot to kill and to get the people out of there. We were able to shoot and kill the majority of the enemies before the rest ran off. Nothing was taken which was weird if they were going to come in here like that they should have had a motive. I had the guards take the injured people to the hospital and to make sure they knew not to open their mouths. I went to the security room to look at the footage and to call Jiyong, this felt off.

 

 

**Alex**

_Shit shit shit._

I kept repeating in my head as I was running back to my car that was parked away from where I was meeting the informant. The call I had gotten was from the person who I had tailing the woman from the art club. He finally had proof that she was in fact paid to make the claims against Seunghyun, and the person who had paid her was a person directly connected to Kim Woo Bin. I finally reach my car and pulled out my phone calling Sofia but not getting an answer, I hung up and called Jiyong next.

 

“Alex, what’s wrong?”

“Jiyong we have a problem, the person who was blackmailing Seunghyun was connected to Kim Woo Bin and I can’t get in touch with Sofia. Woo Bin made an offer to her and she turned him down. I don’t feel good about this, she always answers. I am still too far away can you get to her?”

“Shit, we were just hit and I was on my way to the casino right now. I won’t make it to her in time either, I will call Seunghyun he is closer to her office.”

 

I hung up the phone and put more pressure on the gas pedal needing the car to get to her quicker. I knew this Woo Bin man was bad news, I had just hoped nothing happened to her.


	8. Chapter 8

 

**Seunghyun**

My car came to a screeching halt and I threw it into the park not even bothering with turning the damn thing off or shutting the door. Just as I was getting to the building entrance I saw Alex running towards the building. We both entered the building pulling our guns from our holster and rushing to Sofia’s office. When I received the phone call from Jiyong my heart stopped and it felt like the world around me was moving in slow motion as I pictured what might have been going down here. We finally reached her office door to find it open and no sounds coming from the room. We slowly entered the room with our guns drawn to find two men dead on the floor from gunshot wounds. Alex went to check their bodies as I ran around the desk to find a bloody and injured Sofia sitting on the floor leaning against her desk with a gun in her lap. She had her eyes closed and I dropped to my knees reaching for her, the worst possible scenario…the thing I feared the most had happened. My hand shakily moved to her neck to check for a pulse and I was startled by her raising the gun to my face and her eyes wide open looking at me.

 

“Baby it’s me.”

 

I said quietly as my hand slowly went to the gun to take it and place it on the ground. She looked at me as if she didn’t believe that I was actually here. I moved closer and placed my hands on either side of her face and looked into her eyes. Tears started to form in her eyes and I pulled her into me as she broke down crying.

 

“It’s ok baby, I have you.”

 

I picked her up carrying her in my arms and walked behind Alex out of the office and to my car. I sat her down slowly in the passenger seat of my still running car and buckled her up before shutting the door. Alex stood by the driver side with his phone out sending out text messages.

 

“I will have someone here to clean this up. We need to take her home right now and she needs to be looked over.”

“Call Jiyong and tell him what’s going on, tell him we need a doctor.”

 

I got in the driver seat and drove right to her condo with Alex following behind us. I kept glancing over to Sofia who was unconscious and looked to be having trouble breathing. When we arrived, I parked my car and gently pulled her from the car and back into my arms carrying her into her condo. I laid her on the bed and turned to Alex who was rummaging around in her drawers before finding whatever he was looking for. He turned and had a change of clothes in his hands.

 

“The doctor should be here any moment, please change her before the doctor gets here.”

 

He set the clothes down on the bed before turning and leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. I slowly and carefully as possible undressed her, as I was pulling the clothes from her body I got to see just how badly injured she was. She had small slash marks on her body that weren’t deep but her body was covered in bruises as was her bloody face. She didn’t wake the whole time I was moving her body and that worried me. A light knock at the door caught my attention.

 

“Come in.”

 

The door opened and walked in Jiyong, Alex, and the doctor that normally attended the Kwons. I got up from my spot on the bed to allow the doctor access to her. I walked with Alex and Jiyong back to the door but stayed in the room.

 

“Alex said there were two guys dead in the office?”

“Yeah Sofia was hiding behind her desk and had a gun with a silencer in her lap, I imagine it was probably their gun because I doubt she would have had a silencer on her. The office was a mess with things broken all over the place.”

“The casino is a mess as well right now. Alex says the person who was trying to cause problems with you was paid off by Woo Bin.”

 

Anger coursed through my veins at what he said, I knew Woo Bin was trouble. He was behind this for sure!

 

“Excuse me.”

 

The three of us turned towards the doctor who appeared behind us.

 

“I have finished looking over Miss Rossi, she has lacerations over her body that thankfully were not deep. I applied some ointment to the wounds and bandaged them up. She appears to have a possible fracture to one of her ribs but I will need an x-ray to get a definite answer. For now, I have hooked her up to an IV and have some medication running through it as well. Please keep an eye on her and I would like it if she was brought into the office for a full body x-ray just to make sure I didn’t miss any other injuries. She is very lucky that she isn’t injured more than she is.”

 

The doctor bowed his head before walking out of the room. I looked back at her sleeping form and nodded for the guys to leave the room with me so she could rest. I shut the door leaving a sliver of it open so I could listen out for her. By now the rest of the guys were here and they were sitting on the couch waiting for us. Taking a seat in a chair while Jiyong went to sit next to Seungri and Alex stood by the counter.

 

“Hyung she will be alright, she is a strong woman.”

 

Looking over to Daesung I nodded my head, she was a strong woman but to take on two men who were twice her size with guns wasn’t easy.

 

“I should have just made her move out of that building, I knew it wasn’t right.”

“It might not have been right but you know she would never have listened, she does what she wants.”

“I know Alex but I should have done something. We have no idea what even happened in there, what if this had turned out differently? We were lucky now but this could have been worse.”

“Let’s not even think about that.”

 

We all fell silent for the moment letting the reality of things set in. Youngbae and Daesung shared a concerned look before looking in my direction and I tried to smile for their sake. Looking over at Alex he had his phone out typing away on it probably checking in with the guards. Seungri and Ji were sitting on the couch while Ji had Seungri’s hand in his lap playing with the ring on his finger probably remembering Seungri being in this position not too long ago.

 

“Shit!”

“What’s wrong?”

“We have a problem.”

 

Before any of us got to inquire more on Alex’s comment the door to the condo swung open causing all of us to jump up drawing guns except for Alex. Alex rushed across the room to the door and bowed deeply. In walked a woman wearing a black suit with a deep red shirt, her hair was perfectly pinned up and out of her face. Her makeup was done perfectly with her eyes dark and piercing green eyes looked at us all. Once she did a once over of the room she walked right up to Alex using a cane that I assumed was for looks and not a necessity.

 

“Madame Rossi.”

 

Alex spoke quietly and but his voice wasn’t strong and shook.

 

“Alex, I heard the strangest thing on my way here from the airport. My guard and driver were trying to talk quietly among themselves but failed at trying to keep this from me. From my understanding, my daughter was involved in an incident today.”

“Madame Rossi, Sofia is in her room recovering. We will do all we can to remedy this.” Alex spoke still quietly from his deep bow.

“How did you allow this to happen, Alex, you were sent here to protect her. What have you been doing this whole time?”

“I am sorry for my failure, we weren’t expecting an attack.”

“Not good enough.”

 

Madame Rossi took a step back pulling the hilt of the cane to expose an inner blade which she brought right to Alex’s neck stopping at the sound of Sofia’s raspy voice, “Mother stop.”. We all turned our heads to find Sofia in the doorway of her room holding onto the door with a death grip as she struggled to stay standing. I rushed over to her and swooped her up in my arms.

 

“Sofia you should be in bed.”

 

Carrying her back to her bed I laid her gently down pulling the covers back over her and hanging the IV back up.

 

“Seunghyun you can’t let her treat Alex that way, this wasn’t his fault.”

Just as I was about to speak I was interrupted by Sofia’s mother. “Darling I would never hurt that boy, scare him yes but never hurt him.”

 

I turned towards the door to see her mother gracefully walking into the room before going to the other side of the bed and sitting down looking at her injured daughter.

 

“Dolce bambino, what have they done to you?”

 

Her mother brought her hand to Sofia’s hair moving some loose strands away. I stood and walked quietly out of the room to give them some time.

 

 

**Sofia**

“Mamma please don’t worry, I will be alright.”

“You should have told your father to send more people or at least told him if there were such hard issues here.”

“Why so he could send someone else here? No, I needed to do this to prove to him that I am strong enough to take on the family name.”

“Sofia, family name be damned you are what is important. What good would the family name be if you are no longer here? You should have at least called me, I would have sent other people if you were so opposed to your father helping. I understand you wanted to prove yourself but this isn’t the way to go about it.”

“I’m sorry, mamma.”

“Hush now, you need to rest and let your body recover. I was hoping to surprise you with this visit and have some time for just us. Looks like I will be having to work for a bit, so you just rest and let mamma handle this.”

My mother leaned in to lay a soft kiss on the top of my head before standing and walking out of the room. The drugs running through my IV were starting to take over and I could feel myself slowly slipping back into unconsciousness, I had just hoped Alex was preparing them for the storm that was my mother.

 

 

**Jiyong**

Just as Alex was finishing up informing us of how Madame Rossi operated she came out of Sofia’s room and stood next to Alex. The woman had a presence that demanded everyone’s attention, the way she held herself was full of class but with a pinch of darkness. Like she would kill you at the drop of a dime but then order a cup of tea as if nothing had happened. I could see that Sofia took after her mother in many ways.

 

“Which one of you gentlemen is the Kwon heir?”

Standing forward, “I am.”

“I see, let us take a drive as I have some things I would like to discuss with your father.”

 

Seungri stepped forward with me and I looked back at him shaking my head, no doubt he was probably worried about me being alone with her. Madame Rossi must have noticed this.

 

“I take it you must be Seungri? Don’t worry, I just want to have a conversation with his father. I promise you I am not here to shed any blood, just to talk.”

 

With that, she turned and walked towards the door stopping to grab her cane that was being held by her guard. She turned back towards me raising a brow demanding I follow. I quickly grabbed my jacket and rushed to the door leading her to my car, she got in the back seat and her guard got into the front. The drive to my father was spent in silence, I wasn’t sure how exactly this was going to go down. So far from what I have seen and heard, Sofia is a softer version of her mother, so if I was to expect anything similar to the first day I had met Sofia I knew things were going to be intense.

Pulling up to the house I cut the engine and got out of the vehicle. The three of us walked into the yard and up to the door where my family had a guard stationed. He bowed to me and allowed us entry. Another guard came up to us and demanded any weapons be turned over. Madame Rossi’s guard looked at her and she nodded her head to which he handed over his guns. Our guard then came to her and asked for her own weapons to which she shook her head. He asked again for weapons and she shook her head. Another guard came up and also asked her for her weapons. I stayed out of it not sure how to go about this whole situation if this was any other person I would have demanded their weapons as well but this was a new territory. Suddenly our guard advanced with his hands and Madame Rossi moved so quickly with her cane that no one had time to react before she had my guard on the ground and a gun is drawn on him.

 

“You may take my guard’s weapons but you shall not take mine.”

 

Clapping came from behind us and I turned to see my father clapping and my mother standing in the door shocked.

 

“Madam Rossi, what a welcoming surprise. I can see your daughter takes after you, both of the Rossi women are full of surprises.”

 

Madam Rossi holstered her gun under her jacket before walking up to my father and bowing to him.

 

“Please accept my apologies for arriving unannounced, I had originally only planned on surprising my daughter and then requesting a visit with you. Unfortunately, I arrived during a rather dangerous situation.”

“Yes, the current situation is rather dire. Why don’t we take this conversation to my study.” My father then turned to my mother, “Darling could you bring in some water please?”

 

I followed my father and Madame Rossi into his study and took a seat in the back as she took the one across from him at his desk.

 

“I hope your flight wasn’t too horrible.”

“No, it was fine. I hope my daughter hasn’t been causing too much trouble.”

“Not at all, we adore her and it’s been such a pleasure having her here to work with my son in this partnership. Once we get this current situation taken care of it will be smooth from here on out.”

“I am glad to hear that, but do you have any leads as to what is even going on?”

“My son here is working on it, I have all the confidence that he and the others will figure this out. From my understanding, they have a person in mind but they need to confirm with Sofia once she is rested enough to talk.”

“I see. I am surprised both you and my husband had allowed it to get this far without stepping in to assist the children.”

“We thought it would be best to sit back and see how they handle it as we won’t always be here to hold their hand. The children need to learn to stand on their own.”

“That may be true, we won’t always be here to give them council but while we are still walking this earth we need to take better care of them. They are our future and legacy, everything we have done up until now will be for nothing if they were to fall by the blade of an enemy. I am sure you feel the same way as your son is your heir like my daughter is ours. If we do not stand guard and protect them our enemies will take it all.”

 

Just then my mother walks in with some water pouring everyone a glass and then taking a seat next to Madam Rossi.

 

“Sofia has just been the sweetest girl, everyone here just adores her. Especially our Seunghyun, I hear those two have been very close.”

 

I knew this was coming, word travels to fast in this circle. I watched Madam Rossi turn her head to face my mother and gone was this menacing dangerous woman. What sat before me was a mother in heaven at the news of a romance between her daughter and a man. She clapped her hands together and smiled at my mother as if she had just given her the holy grail, as if she had just saved mankind and the whole damn world.

 

“Madam Kwon please tell me more, this is the first I have heard of this. I guess Sofia is doing a good job at making sure our men keep their mouths shut.”

 

My father cleared his throat before he stood to leave the women to their talk of future weddings and babies, I followed him out not wanting to hear about it. The two of them were in my father’s office for another hour before they finally emerged with their arms linked together and their heads close to each other laughing. I offered her a ride back to Sofia’s but she declined wanting to let her rest, instead my father’s driver was going to be taking her to her hotel. I bid the elders goodnight and drove back to Sofia’s.

When I arrived Seunghyun was not in the living room, the others were sprawled out on the couch sleeping. Alex was sitting at the counter and came up to me.

 

“Everyone decided to just stay here for the night. I have a guest room set for you, Seunghyun is already sleeping in Sofia’s room.”

 

I thanked Alex and went over to Seungri waking him from his uncomfortable spot, motioning my head towards the spare room he sleepily stood and followed me into the room. Youngbae and Daesung would end up sleeping on opposites sides of the couch tonight, it’s not like they haven’t slept in worse positions.

 

 

**Sofia**

Waking up the next morning I felt as if I had been run over by a bus. Rolling to my side I let out a low groan which woke up Seunghyun who was lying next to me. He shot up in bed with concern in his eyes as he looked over my body.

 

“What’s wrong? Do you want me to call the doctor back?”

“I’m fine, please don’t worry too much.”

“How can I not worry, you could have been killed last night! I should call the doctor, he wants you to come in and get a full body x-ray to double check.”

“I will later, for now, let’s go talk with the guys.”

 

I carefully pulled the IV out of my hand and put a band-aid over the mark. Seunghyun came over and helped me out of bed and out to the living room. Youngbae and Daesung were laying on the couch still sleeping as I lowered myself into a chair. Seunghyun went over to the coffee maker in the kitchen and started making some fresh coffee for the group. The noise of the machine and the smell of the fresh coffee woke both of the sleep men up. Stretching their arms above their heads they yawned in unison making me smile.

 

“Good morning boys.”

“Sofia!” They said again in unison.

“Are you two always like this?”

 

The boys looked at each other smiling before answering together, “No” causing the three of us to laugh out loud. The laughter from the three of us must have been loud enough because out walked a very messy haired Jiyong and Seungri. They took their spots on the other couch with Seungri yawning and laying his head on Jiyong’s shoulder. Seunghyun eventually joined us with the fresh coffee loaded into some cups that he set on the coffee table. We each took a cup and sipped on the hot liquid letting the caffeine work its way through our system making us more aware of the day.

 

“You all didn’t have to sleep here last night, my place isn’t nearly as big as Seungri’s.”

“Nuna, we weren’t about to leave you here injured. Even with your guards, it’s better that we stayed together.”

 

I smiled at Daesung, he and Youngbae probably had the worst night sleep on the couch but his words warmed my heart. In the short of amount of time being here, I have grown so close to these men and it was nice to know they felt the same way about me.

 

“Sofia, it’s safe to say this is all Woo Bin you know that right?”

“Yeah I know, I had my speculations Jiyong but at first I didn’t want to believe it.”

“With the messages and business offers to you along with the hits on the club and yourself. Add on that he has always been trying to take down my family, there really is no denying it. Things just add up too much against him.”

 

Nodding my head in agreement to what Jiyong had said, Woo Bin was the man behind this all. Seunghyun, on the other hand, was still running off his emotions from the night before and wasn’t thinking properly.

 

“We should hit him now Jiyong! Make him pay for doing this to her!”

“I know how you feel hyung but now is not the time, we need to stay calm and watch him. We can’t just go in their guns blazing.”

 

As usual, Daesung is always the one to keep the guys in check, I had to agree with him. Not just because we needed to wait for the perfect time but also because I needed time to heal because I wanted my slice of him for how he treated me. No, we will wait and I will have my revenge.

 

“I agree, we shall wait and see. I will have some men follow him, I will use some of the men who haven’t been linked to us yet. If we have them watch his every move then we will know when the right time is to strike. I need to go over this with my father first, I can’t be starting a war unannounced to him.”

“He started this first Jiyong.”

“He might have hyung but I can’t be as reckless as he has been.”

 

Everyone nodded their heads except for Seunghyun, I grabbed his hand in mine and held it close. He wanted revenge just as badly as I did but if he didn’t follow the plan then he could be the one ending up dead. Once we were all done discussing things the guys started to branch off going back home before returning to their duties. Seunghyun was the only one left but once my mother showed up he too left wanting me to have time with her.

 

“How are you feeling?”

“I will be fine, mamma, this is nothing.”

“Don’t tell me this is nothing, from what I hear they want you to come in and get checked out. I don’t like this one bit. Let me just call your father and he will have some men out here in no time to fix this problem. Just come home darling, no one would be upset if you did.”

“I would be upset, mamma, I don’t want to leave! I know I can handle it, I knew I could when father told me about this. Just trust me, mamma, please?”

“Darling it’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s just that I am worried. Any mother would be if they were in my shoes, I am sure Madame Kwon is just as worried about her son as are the other mothers of the boys. It’s a mother’s job to worry about the well-being of our children, we only ever want what’s best.”

“I know mamma, but you know how this life is. Let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s just enjoy your time while you are here.”

 

The rest of the time my mother was here we spent it watching movies and catching up. Once I got the all clear from the doctor I took her out shopping along with Jiyong’s mother. Those two had become best of friends and had made plans for Jiyong’s mother to come visit her once she is home and this situation is settled.

The night before my mother left I finally introduced her to Seunghyun. She had already seen him and spoken to him but this was the first time I introduced her to him as the man in my life. We had ordered dinner, nothing fancy and he had made sure to bring her flowers like the gentlemen he is. He was nervous at first, I don’t blame him because I was also nervous about being introduced to his mother. Once the initial anxiety died down things were going well and then she brought up art. His eyes lit up like a boy on Christmas when she started talking about his favorite topic. Once those two got going I just sat back drinking my water watching the two of them get lost in their own world. All too soon it was time for my mother to go back home as she was taking a night flight. I offered to take her to the airport but she declined, telling me I need to rest more. Just as she was about to walk out the door she turned to the two of us. Seunghyun had his arm around my waist holding me close and the sight must have made her happy because she had a big smile on her face.

 

“Be good to my daughter, she is special to us.”

“I will, I would give her the world if she would let me.”

“That’s good to know.”

 

She turned around and grabbed the door handle opening the door, just as she was about ready to walk out she paused again and turned to us.

 

“I know it goes without saying but I feel like I wouldn’t be doing my motherly duty if it didn’t. If you harm her in any way and I mean ANY way you won’t have a place to hide. Not only her father’s family but mine as well and all the power of the two combined will come and hunt you down. Partnerships be damned, we won’t let anything stand in our way. Even the first one is still being watched to this day, so watch your moves boy.”

 

Her words left us both stunned as she walked out the door as if she had simply said a goodbye.

 

“She didn’t need to say all that.”

“I don’t plan on ever hurting you so we don’t even need to worry about that. Now, why don’t you go and rest while I clean up.”

Turning in his arms I reached up and pulled his face down to whisper against his lips, “you are too good to me” before kissing him softly.

 

The next morning we both received a summons to the Kwon home along with the others. We all knew what this was going to be about and it was well overdue, it was time to get down to business. Once we were all there we were ushered into old man Kwon’s study where he was sitting behind his desk.

 

“So from what my son has told me you have all come to an understanding of who is behind this?”

 

We all nodded our heads.

 

“The Kim family has always been a thorn in our side but we have lived together as peacefully as possible all these years. I doubt master Kim even knows what his son is going around doing, I would really appreciate it if we could end this smoothly without bloodshed. I am sorry Sofia about what happened to you but a war between families would only cause more problems and unnecessary loss on both sides.”

“I understand but there needs to be something done, he needs to pay for not only what he has done to me but to our business.”

“I will have a talk with his father and I am sure we can come to an understanding and figure out a way to discipline his son.”

 

Seunghyun grabbed my hand holding it in his and gave me a reassuring squeeze, this isn’t the outcome we wanted. We wanted to make him pay in the most painful way possible but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen until Daesung spoke.

 

“I understand wanting to avoid bloodshed sir but I don’t think that will be an option as I am positive master Kim knows exactly what his son is doing. Over the past week, I have been working to keep the family out of danger. The Kims have been using their political influence to try and put pressure on us and the businesses we run. Thankfully I had information on all of the politicians in the pocket of the Kims and I was able to use that to keep them at bay. Now that I have shown my cards they know we are watching them. They have moved their game to buy up property around the hotel where our casino is held. There is nothing I can do about stopping it as they are doing it legally. None of this would have been able to happen without master Kim’s knowledge.”

“I see that changes things. If the Kim family is bold enough to start making moves on us then we need to end this as quickly as possible. I would like to spare as many lives as possible, so if that is an option please follow it. If not then end this Jiyong before it gets more out of hand.”

“I will father, we have people watching his every move right now so I will wait a little bit longer to get an idea of the best way to end this.”

 

With the discussion over we were all dismissed and went about our ways. True to his words Jiyong had his men follow Woo Bin for the next week to see when would be a good time to hit them. Jiyong had figured the best way to hit them would be with their drugs as that was their main money maker. The men following Woo Bin eventually came back with information about an upcoming shipment of drugs the Kim family was to be expecting. The delivery would be in a warehouse they owned through an alias business, with the shipment being a large one it would be heavily armed which meant everyone would be handling this.

It was finally the day before the hit, everyone was on edge leading up to this and to help clear their minds they decided to spend the day with their loved ones. Everyone was treating this as a normal day but deep down we all knew if anything were to happen this would have been the last day we spent with them. Daesung was spending the time with his family, well his mother as his father was away on business. Youngbae spent time with his family at first but spent the rest of the day with his girlfriend that he had hidden away. Both Jiyong and Seungri did the same but by evening they were together trying to act like nothing was wrong. Seunghyun had spent the morning with his family but by the afternoon he was here with me. We had spent the day watching movies and like the others acting as if nothing was going to happen tomorrow. After dinner, we ended up on the couch listening to music while sharing a bottle of wine.

 

“I really do love this song, it makes me think of you.”

“How so? It’s not like there are lyrics to a classical song.”

“Because of the melody, it starts off fierce and strong but by the end it’s soft and delicate. Just like you, you showed up in our lives this strong fierce woman who had no fears. You would have taken on the whole family alone if you had to, your fierceness is what attracted me to you. I had never known another woman like you. Just like the song you have become this soft and delicate woman whom I want to protect.”

“You are so cheesy at times.”

“I know but you love that about me.”

“That I do.”

 

Seunghyun placed his glass along with mine on the coffee table and pulled me to my feet placing his hand on my hip and holding my other as he led me in a dance. Dropping my head to his shoulder as he held me close to him I closed my eyes and allowed my body to sway to the music. The thought of anything happening tomorrow was too much to bear and suddenly tears were pooling in my eyes. I tried hard to hold them back but eventually, they were too much and fell onto his shoulder dampening his shirt. As my body shook with my silent cry, Seunghyun pulled me closer to him trying to comfort me.

 

I pulled back to look him in the eyes too, “make love to me.”

 

Seunghyun didn’t say anything but bent down to pick me up bridal style carrying me to my room where he gently placed me on my bed. He wasn’t aggressive like how he can normally be, no this was gentle.

His lips on mine were sweet from the wine we shared earlier, his caresses were as soft as the melody from the song playing in the other room. Our clothes fell to the floor as we took turns helping each other disrobe. With the both of us naked on the bed we took our time caressing one another. His fingers ghosting over my body from the mounds of my breast down my side and over my hips. His trail continued to my stomach where he bent down to place a kiss just below my belly button.

 

“One day I hope to see your stomach grow with our child.”

 

The tears began to pool in my eyes at his words, in the past, I hadn’t even thought of having a child after my disaster of a relationship. I had thought I would never mother a child and I was ok with that. Now the thought of having that with him made me so happy but the happiness was pushed down by the thought of something happening to him and the dream of having a family going with him. Not even bothering to wipe my tears from my eyes I allowed them to flow freely and instead put my hand on his head running my fingers through his luscious mane. Seunghyun continued his descent with his fingers until he was finally where he wanted to be.

 Lightly he took his tongue and began to memorize my lower lips. Using his tongue to slowly drive me wild with lust before inserting one of his skilled digits and moving it in and out in tune with the soft licks of his tongue on my clit. The warm sensation was slowly building in my stomach when he inserted another digit causing me to throw my head back as I let out a loud moan. With the sounds and suction of his fingers, he knew I was close and sped up his movements with his fingers while applying more pressure with his tongue. He knew exactly what it would take to push me over the edge and unlike most nights he didn’t toy with me and instead brought me right to the edge. Loud moans of his name fell from my lips as his continued his movement as my body rode out its pleasure. When I was left with nothing but hard labored breaths he slowed his movements before removing his fingers and licking them clean.

As he climbed up my body he took his time placing small kisses on my body until he finally captured my lips with his mixing his tongue with mine as I tasted the lingering sweetness of myself on his lips. I felt him line himself up at my entrance as I wrapped my legs around him holding him close. The way he moved slowly inside me as he closed his eyes was like he was putting the way I felt around him to memory. Pulling his head back down to mine I nudged my nose against his causing him to open his eyes, tears were also forming in his as they were mine. His movements were long and hard but gentle at the same time. Both of our eyes were kept open and didn’t move from one another. The tears in his began to fall as his thrusts became faster and more erratic. Our breaths became labored and the moans became louder but our eyes never left one another. With a few long hard thrusts, he began to spill inside me as we both let “I love you” fall from our lips. He stilled inside me as his forehead rested against mine the two of us trying to catch our breaths. When he felt comfortable to move he detached himself from me and went to the bathroom to grab something to clean us up with. Before climbing into bed he went around turning the lights and music off. Once in bed, he pulled me close and I rested my head on his chest.

 

“I need you to promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that if anything were to happen, if things were to get crazy. If it were to look like we might lose I need you to leave. I need you to high tail it the fuck out of there and get on the first plane out of here. I have a private jet that will take you out of Korea where you can safely get on a plane back to the states. Promise me Sofia, promise me that you will stay safe.”

“Seunghyun…”

“Promise me!”

“I promise.”

 

I hated lying to him and making a promise that I would never keep but I wanted him to have peace of mind going into this. I don’t plan on running away, I planned on seeing this through and making sure Woo Bin paid for all he has done.


	9. finale

**Sofia**

We all arrived at Seungri’s warehouse around nightfall, this is where we were supposed to load up with our weapons and finalize the plan of attack. Gone were the expensive suites and jewelry. Everyone was dressed in black to blend in with the darkness we were sure to walk into. Walking up to the guys I began to put on my gun holsters making sure to have one on my thigh and another harness on my other thigh to place my knives in. Just as I was checking my guns out and looking over the ammo the guys all stopped what they were doing and looked over at me.

 

“What? Do I have something on my face?”

“Sofia why don’t you sit this one out, you aren’t healed enough to be in this fight.”

“Jiyong while I appreciate your concern you should just drop it, Seunghyun already tried to talk me out of this earlier. I won’t be sitting this out, I am healed enough to be in this and I deserve to have my revenge just as much as any of you.”

“I know that but we don’t really need anything happening to you, you are still hurt. What if you get caught off guard, I can’t guarantee that any of us will be able to get to you.”

“Don’t worry so much, I am not some poor little girl. I know how to handle myself Jiyong, if I didn’t I would not be where I am today. I have obviously shown I can handle myself by taking on those two goons from earlier. I did that all on my own and I didn’t even have my own weapons, this time I will be well prepared.”

 

Jiyong dropped the conversation and everyone shared a look of concern before returning their attention to the weapons. Once everyone was loaded up we all went to a screen in the center of the warehouse. Jiyong nodded to a guard to cut the lights and the screen was illuminated with a map of the area around the warehouse. He began pointing to certain parts of the map telling people where they would be stationed and what the entry points would be.

 

“The whole point of this is to end this battle with the Kims, I want those drugs! I also want Woo Bin, if you see him take out as many of his guards as possible. Wound him if you must but do not kill him, we want him alive. In the event that he tries to escape and looks to be succeeding I want him dead on the spot. Just remember that this warehouse will be heavily guarded. I want the snipers to have eyes from the roof of the surrounding buildings. Everyone is to keep their radios on and communicate any kind of movement.”

 

Everyone nodded their heads and he continued but turned to Alex who was standing to the side with my men.

 

“Alex I want you and your men to be stationed off to the side, I don’t want you guys in there when we first enter. Just in case something happens and we need a team to be dispatched to something I want your men to handle this.”

“But I need to be there with Sofia.”

“Sofia will have us and our men, I promise to keep her as safe as possible.”

 

Alex nodded his head but you could see it on his face that he wasn’t happy with this, he knew exactly what would happen if something were to happen to me. My men were also shuffling from one foot to another obviously uncomfortable with the turn of things, probably worrying about what would happen to them as well. I looked to Alex as he turned his head to me, I smiled and nodded trying to convey that things would be alright and to follow the plan.

With everyone in understanding of how things were to go down Jiyong dismissed us and we all began walking towards the door to load up into our vehicles. Seunghyun grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

 

“Remember that promise you made me last night?”  
“I do.”

“You better follow through with that, I don’t want you sticking around if things get bad.”

“I know, don’t worry.”

 

Reaching up I placed a soft kiss on his lips before walking towards the door. I felt like he knew I was lying and that I had no plans on leaving. I would see this to the end and I would do all I could to make sure that we all made it out of there alive but Woo Bin wouldn’t.

Arriving to the warehouse we had split up the vehicles so we weren’t all bunched together. Parking and ditching the cars we made the rest of the way there on foot. Sticking to the shadows the warehouse finally came into view. Jiyong ordered the men to wait while the snippers took out the guards on the outside and securing the entry points before we went any further. Once everything was secured we continued our way into the building. Things were quiet, even with the snipers taking the men out there should have been some kind of noise. This was going too smoothly. Going further into the warehouse we all started to notice the lack guards and people working. Looking to Seunghyun I saw he too was uneasy with this situation. We could see the other team coming in from the other entry point just as we were entering the center of the warehouse. There were crates but no drugs, it was an empty building. This was bad. Suddenly the lights came on and we had no direct cover to take. Laughing could be heard from just above us, looking to where the sound was Woo Bin came into view.

 

“Well hello everyone, what a nice surprise. Well not really surprise as I knew you were all coming.”

 

The sound of Woo Bin’s feet hitting the metal stairs as he descended down to us filled the warehouse that was silent. Once he was on the same level his guards came in and fanned out just a step behind him.

 

“Sofia it is nice to see you up and walking around, I was worried that my men were a bit too rough with you. Such a shame that this could have all been avoided had you just come to me. Instead you put your hat in with this losing team, even more so that you have taken up with Seunghyun.”

 

Woo Bin made a tisking noise as he shook his head, Seunghyun stepped forward and I shot him a look to stop.

 

“I normally don’t do this but I am a forgiving generous man after all. I will offer you this one last hand, come to me. Walk away from the Kwons and Seunghyun, come to my family and join me. Together we can rule Seoul and expand our businesses. Or stay where you are and die right along with the rest of them. The era of the Kwons is over, tonight we shall end them and anyone else who opposes us. The choice is yours Sofia, choose wisely.”

 

The man had balls to be saying this in front of everyone, but his words meant nothing to me. Grabbing my gun from my thigh I cocked the hammer with my finger before raising and pointing it towards his direction.

 

“The only one who will fall today will be you Woo Bin, you should have learned your place and not have tried to climb so high.”

“Such a shame.”

 

Woo Bin stepped back and just as he nodded to his men Jiyong shouted for everyone to take cover. People began to spread out taking cover behind crates as more of Woo Bin’s men came into the building and gun fire was being exchanged. Woo Bin thankfully didn’t run and began to take cover as he too began to fire upon us. As I crouched down to load up my gun again I noticed Youngbae falling behind as he spoke into his phone probably ordering Alex’s men to find the drugs.

Woo Bin’s laughter could be heard mixed in with the gun shots, the bastard was enjoying this too much. Turning around to shoot out at the others I noticed that thankfully some of his guards were laying on the ground.

 

“Sofia, you could have been richer then you could have ever imagined. I would have pleased you more than he ever could have.”

 

Looking in the direction of Woo Bin I saw his face briefly smiling at his comment as took a chance to shoot at our men. Lifting my gun I shot off a few rounds at him missing him as he ducked back behind the crate.

 

Ducking back behind my own crate I shouted out, “I doubt it, you don’t know how to please any woman as you are still a mere boy. I need a man who knows how to handle my needs and that isn’t you so keep dreaming.”

 

The six of us were stuck in our spot as Woo Bin’s men were surrounding us as our men fought with them. Bullets were flying all around us and pieces of wood were flying up into the air as the crates were being struck by the strayed bullets. Even with the state of things in chaos Woo Bin still wouldn’t shut up.

 

“I would have been able to bring you to new heights of pleasure that he won’t ever do!”

This time it was Seunghyun who answered, “Come out and say that to my face you fucker! All the women who have been with you all say the same thing, that you use your money and power to make up for the fact that you are a lousy in bed! That they have to fake it just to get you off them!”

“Fuck you Choi!”

“No thanks!”

 

Woo Bin popped out from his hiding spot and began to spray bullets in Seunghyun’s direction. He crouched down covering his head with his hands as wood pieces flew up into the air. Jiyong took the chance to try and hit Woo Bin as he was exposed but Woo Bin was too quick and fell back into hiding before he could be hit.

Jiyong’s voice came through the ear pieces as he asked the snipers if they had any shots open they could take on Woo Bin and his guards but even with their night vision and heat sensing vision they had no clear shot. Jiyong cussed out as he motioned for us to start to move around where Woo Bin was taking cover. The death tolls were adding up and things needed to end now. Jiyong, Seungri, and Youngbae went one way while the rest of us slowly went the other way. Woo Bin only had a few more guards left near him and if we were able to take them out we would have him finally and we would be able to end this.

Just as we had him surrounded a voice came over the ear pieces, Alex and my men had located the drugs in a warehouse not too far from here. They were just finishing up securing it onto a truck before they would come join us here.

 

“Looks like you lose Woo Bin! Our men have your drugs! Surrender and let us end this without any more bloodshed.”

 

Jiyong shouted out from the opposite direction. Woo Bin’s frustrated yelling could be heard from where he was currently hiding.

 

“I won’t ever surrender to you Kwon, I will kill every last one of you! But you know what I will save you for last, I will make sure you watch me kill off every last one of your friends until I get to your precious Seungri. I will make sure to kill him slowly in front of your eyes, it’s just too bad my men didn’t finish him off when they had the chance. Nothing would give me greater pleasure then to see you suffer as I kill the one you love the most!”

 

Stepping out from his hiding spot Jiyong ruled by his emotions began to advance towards Woo Bin leaving him open to be hit. Seungri shouting to him to get back was useless, Woo Bin had did exactly what he needed to draw him out. Jiyong was able to take out two of the guards but in the end took a gunshot to the shoulder taking him down and unable to life his firing arm. Seungri began to advance forward to get him back to safety which meant Youngbae and Seunghyun moved from their hiding spot to cover for Seungri as he tried to pull the bleeding and injured Jiyong back to safety. Youngbae was able to take out another guard but Seunghyun missed and before he could duck he took a gunshot to the leg dropping him to the ground where he tried to shoot off another shot but his gun only clicked empty. He quickly looked my direction with panic in his eyes as one of the guards shot off another round hitting him in the stomach. Standing from my hiding spot I began running forward shooting at the guards that were aiming for Seunghyun and taking them out. Covering Seunghyun with my body I began to put pressure on his wound trying to stop the heavy stream of blood seeping from his body. He coughed and opened his mouth as blood splattered from his lips.

 

“Run Sofia, get the fuck out of here! Leave me and run!”

With tears streaming down my face I shook my head refusing to leave, “Not without you!”

 

The sound of Woo Bin laughing brought my head and gun in the direction from where the sound came from.

 

“Such a shame, but this is what happens when you come up against my family.”

“Come out from your hiding spot you coward!”

 

Woo Bin slowly moved from behind the crate he was hiding from behind.

 

“I gave you so many chances to come to me, but you chose the losing team. Now watch that man die in your arms, how does it feel to watch the life leave his body? But don’t worry, I will make sure to send you next.”

 

Woo Bin raised his gun and pointed it to me, the two of us shooting off around. While mine reached him first hitting him in the stomach due to his body jerking forward from the shot he received from Youngbae from behind him. I felt his bullet enter my chest just below my left breast. Slumping forward I fell to the side of Seunghyun. Looking into the eyes I could see the horror in them, as I am sure he saw the same look in mine. He shakily reached out his hand placing it over my wound to stop the blood from spewing out. I could feel my body becoming weak and I placed my hand back on his stomach. Moving my head forward I placed my lips on his and told him I loved him, hearing him cough as I moved back before he said it back to me. Just as the world started to fall away from me I heard Alex’s voice and the sound of my men arriving. Woo Bin got what he wanted, letting my eyes closed I sent a prayer up begging the man upstairs to allow me and Seunghyun to meet again in another life.


	10. eplilogue

**Jiyong**

The days after ending things with the Kims were the hardest days I have ever had to endure, even harder than the days of my mother’s battle with cancer. No matter how quickly we tried to get the two of them to a doctor it was pointless, they were already gone. I begged and pleaded for the doctor to save them but he just shook his head. I remember falling to the ground crying for the loss of my friend and his lover.

 

“This is all my fault!”

 

I had screamed as Seungri took me in his arms, he tried to deny it but I knew it was true. I was the reason that Seunghyun had come out of hiding. If I had kept my emotions in check everything would have turned out differently.

When I went home that night to report back to my father my mother collapsed when she heard of the deaths. My father held her as she cried for the loss of my friend and the loss of Sofia. Once my mother was lying in bed after crying all the energy she had out my father went into his office. Like I had done so many times in the past I stood just outside of his office as I listened to the phone call. He was calling Sofia’s parents to inform them of her death. The phone call was short with many apologies falling from my father’s lips. All I could think of was that I was the one that killed them.

The Rossi family was on the first flight here, when they arrived the first thing Sofia’s father did was demand the head of Woo Bin’s father. As much as my father tried to stop him he was hell bent on revenging his daughter’s death. My father had barely been able to stop Seunghyun’s father from exacting his own revenge but could do nothing with Sofia’s father. From my understanding the man walked right into a restaurant where master Kim was eating and shot him point blank in the head and killing the guards before paying off the staff to keep their mouths shut.

The Choi’s had their son cremated and placed him in the family mausoleum. The Rossi family were having their daughter sent back to the states where she was to be buried. They stayed for Seunghyun’s funeral and offered their condolences. Seunghyun and Sofia’s mother met for the first time that day, the two of them held onto each other as they shared in their loss. Gone were their children, the two of them left the world in each other’s arms. Yet they would not be laid to rest together, I had only hoped that when the reaper came for their souls he took them together. That they are able to spend time together in the afterlife before being reborn. If they were to be reborn I only prayed that they were reunited again and that, that life would be one of happiness and not pain like this one.

Going up to my friends final resting place I silently said my final goodbyes. I told him of how much I would miss him and how this wasn’t fair. I told him how sorry I was for acting like a fool. How I was sorry that I not only took his life but Sofia’s as well. That I was sorry that they weren’t able to continue living and sharing their life together. That I had robbed them of the chance at starting their own family. I felt Seungri’s hand on my shoulder and turned into his embrace as the sobs began to rock my body. He rubbed my back in circular motions trying to calm me as he whispered that it will get better with time. I had only hoped it was true.

My family saw the Rossi’s off to the airport. Walking up to the casket that held Sofia I place my hand on it and said my goodbyes. I apologized for being such an idiot from the first moment I met her. I apologized for the same things I did to Seunghyun. I told her to not cause too much trouble in the afterlife and to take care of Seunghyun in my place.

Watching their plane take off all I could feel was regret, shame, and grief coursing through my body. I wasn’t sure how I was going to continue on with this life knowing that I was the cause of so many people’s pain and grief. Turning to walk a way I was met with the faces of my friends who had come to support me. I had just wished things had turned out differently.


	11. Alternate ending

                                                   5 years later

**Jiyong**

The sun was beaming down on me as I laid the white flowers on the burial mound. Standing back I did a bow before standing back up. Even after all these years it was still hard to understand that I was here and they weren’t.

 

“I hope you two know how much I miss you. Not a day doesn’t go by that I don’t think of you. I hope you are both watching down on me and seeing all the good I am doing. I have been working to change things and to make sure that this never happens again.”

 

The tears in my eyes fell as I said my goodbyes and turned to Seungri who was standing back letting me have a moment to myself. Smiling he came up and placed a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. Turning we made our way back to the car wanting to head home.

Arriving back to the house Seungri parked the car and the two of us got out before going into the back seat and grabbing the bags. Seungri reached for them all and told me to just get the door from him, shaking my head I laughed at him he was always trying to show off his strength. Opening the door I held it for him to cross over the doorway before I shut it and followed him up the path to the house. Just as we were reaching the door a squealing little thing came rushing out of the house and leapt into my arms wrapping her legs around me. I let out a hoof as she giggled and held onto my neck with a death grip.

 

“Sanchu save me!”

 

Seungri laughed and shook his head as he walked past me into the house probably wanting to rid himself of the heavy bags. Walking with her in my arms I entered the house as a frazzled looking Daesung came running around the corner.

 

“Jihoo, you know you aren’t supposed to be running around let alone leaving the house! Your father is going to be very upset.”

 

Setting the giggling Jihoo down so that Daesung could grab her little hand I followed the two of them into the living room. Just as Daesung and Jihoo reached the table that held her abandoned crayons and coloring books Youngbae came out with some drinks and treats.

 

“Jihoo I hope you aren’t giving Daesung any trouble.”

“I just wanted to play.”

 

I took a seat next to her and listened to her explain her drawing, it was a picture of the house with all of us together and two angels in the sky. She pointed to everyone and called out their names, “This is you and Ri sanchu, this is Dae sanchu, this is mommy and daddy, and this is..”

 

She stopped what she was saying just as the door opened up and walked in a very upset and pregnant Sofia.

 

“Jiyong I swear to god if you park that close to the door again I don’t care if I ding your shit. I cannot be waddling around in this state trying to squeeze through the small space you left!”

“Mommy, daddy!”

 

Jihoo jumped down from her chair and ran to Seunghyun who swooped her up in his arms and spun her around in a circle causing her to giggle. Once he stopped Jihoo leaned down and gave her mamma a kiss on the cheek. Sofia waddled her way to the couch before slowly lowering herself into it. Seunghyun put Jihoo down and went to his wife lifting her feet and placing it on the coffee table before leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips.

 

“Thank you darling.”

“Anything for you.”

I let out a laugh, “Can you two stop please.”

 

Sofia stuck her tongue out at me as Seunghyun sat down with his daughter and turned to me.

 

“How was it, are they keeping the mound clean?”

“Yes, it was so nice up there. I know my mom would have loved the view and all the fresh air.”

 

Seungri came into the room and sat down next to me taking my hand in his. I looked down at our joined hands and then back to his face and gave him a smile, I was so lucky to have him in my life. Turning to see everyone else I couldn’t help but think how happy I was. All my friends were here and starting their own family. I was happy that my mother had last long enough to see this, but sadly her cancer came back and hit her hard. She was gone within 6 months and my father followed after her a few months later. He had always said he didn’t want to be on this earth if she wasn’t. Ever since I took over the family I made sure to contribute to the cancer society and paid for more research to be done in hopes that someday this world would be rid of cancer. Even with the passing of my parents I was still the happiest I could be with having my friends here with me, to have them walking this earth because I know that things could have been different and it would have been all my fault.


End file.
